Weeding out the reputable betting sites

There is a worthwhile site out there if you want to bet on football. Sports Intensity provide free, in-depth, knowledgeable, and objective sportsbook information to the betting community.

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Sports Intensity is worth a look.

Milan: fashion center and now a haven for washed up strikers

Andriy Shevchenko has announced to Chelsea management that he wants to return to Italy at the end of the season. Italian press claims that he met with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and that little resistance was offered to the suggestion.

Former Real Madrid striker Ronaldo was the last wash-up to land on the shores of Italy, after a lackluster spell, it appears his career may be over due to injury. For Shevchenko the loss of Ronaldo leaves an opening for a cut rate return to his former club.

He should have better luck there with Alberto Gilardino a world class flop and only Pato to compete with for a place.

The Shevchenko's have apparently already been house hunting in their old stomping grounds.

Wouldn't it be comedy to see Mourinho take over at Milan now?

Alonso should be respected

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is dead wrong. Xabi Alonso made a decision not to travel with the Liverpool team yesterday for their tussle with Inter Milan as his girlfriend was on the verge of giving birth.

This is a mistake. Events like these don’t happen every day. A man deserves this moment regardless of what is at stake, and in this case of bunch of boys punting a ball around. A little perspective on what is meaningful in life would be useful. Also a bit of respect for what is meaningful for the individual.

Alonso has been on the back foot at Anfield ever since the arrival of Javier Macherano and the recent emergence of Lucas.

Apparently Alonso was prepared to join up with the team after the birth but Benitez then announced that he was not going to be travelling and had to make due with what he had.

Ultimatum at Liverpool: you have 1 day

Liverpool owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks have denied, denied, denied that they have discussed a sale of the club to the Dubai based investment fund DIC, but the most open secret since Elton John and Freddy Mercury is now coming to a head.

Gillett and Hicks have 1 day to take it or leave the offer from the government run fund. The offer on the table is 400m pounds.

Tired of the runaround, well it’s not the first time: DIC has played this ‘last chance’ card before and are much more eager to buy than the owners to sell even though their tenure at Liverpool so far has been nothing short of an embarrassment. So typical with a desperate buyer, Gillett and Hicks are trying to gouge out a huge sale price.

Tom Hicks has especially been adamant that there is no negotiation taking place. Pffff, raspberries everywhere.

The current Liverpool owners are becoming very, very unpopular among fans for a variety of high profile blunders. Recently one of the owners sons was chased from a pub.

This is what you get when you bed non-fans from non-football countries. I remember all the back slapping and ya-hoo ride ‘em cowboy to the title blather on the message boards.

It’s looking more obvious by the day that this club ownership merry-go-round in the Premiership is doing nothing good for fans. A few transfer and a higher ticket price, some PR headlines when it starts, obituaries when it goes sour. That’s all.

Liverpool have gone to the rodeo and been ridden by a pair of cowboys -but pulling away the veneer, the cowboys are wearing suits, and there are no bulls, just bull****. You my friends are just the kind of donkeys that are perfect for riding their money bags into the sunset with.

"You'll never walk alone" is now officially "you'll never ride alone".

Nani emerging

Manchester United scored an impressive win against Fulham over the weekend with their biggest guns on the bench. This gave an opportunity for Nani to show some of his skills and he didn’t disappoint.

Now for me, Paul Scholes was the best player on the pitch Saturday, the diminutive red-head’s passing was stunning and his awareness on the pitch something to behold, but in terms of creativity and ‘up-and-coming-ness’ it was Nani’s show.

There were some glimpses early on in the season, but in recent weeks Nani is starting to look really impressive. At Sporting Lisbon, his previous club, Nani was the star of the team and was playing much better than you have ever seen him for United. It’s taken some time for him to adapt to the Premiership and his new team and we are starting to see dividends.

Nani’s movement was excellent against Fulham. His trickery was purposeful, sending the Fulham fullbacks into knots. His crossing was precise and his shots on goal forced saves. What else can you ask from a winger?

The only downside to all of this is a touch of petulance. Nani fakes injury which is very annoying to watch and brought out boos from the crowd every time he touched the ball after an incident with Paul Konchesky intended to draw a yellow card. Konchesky set him straight moments later when he deservedly dumped him out of bounds in a heap. From that one Nani bounced up and moments later tested the keeper yet again. He’s a determined chap, that much you can say for him.

Football’s top 10 highest paid players in the world revealed

A survey came out today that publishes a list of the highest paid footballers in the world. Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool all represent the Premiership and dominate the list while AC Milan and Barcelona are the only non-English sides listed. It certainly appears the money is in England now.

The list in order:

1. Kaka (AC Milan) 6.6m pounds
2. Ronaldinho (Barcelona) 6.31m pounds
3. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 6.04m pounds
4. John Terry (Chelsea) 6.04m pounds
5. Fernando Torres (Liverpool) 5.86m pounds
6. Andiry Shevchenko (Chelsea) 5.77m pounds
7. Michael Ballack (Chelsea) 5.77m pounds
8. Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd) 5.69m pounds
9. Theirry Henry (Barcelona) 5.69m pounds
10. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) 5.69m pounds

Pressure getting to Grant

Chelsea manager Avram Grant has hit out at the media for its post defeat coverage of their Carling Cup final to Tottenham.

Strangely, he hit out at the lack of respect for giving him no credit for achievements. What achievements Avram? I thought you lost, and as of yet, have won nothing. What have you achieved? I think the media has fairly given you credit for stabilizing the team, but more than that there is nothing to show that you are actually up to the job.

While Grant insists that he is in charge, there is no doubt that the hand of Abramovich has played a heavy hand in the running of the club.

While Chelsea have remained competitive, their defeats have come at the hands of Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham. The draw to Liverpool didn’t help, did it? Nor the draw with Olympiacos.

In comparison, Jose Mourinho suffered only 2 losses in 2+ years in charge to the biggest clubs in England.

I would suggest this is more evidence of the slow decline in Chelsea’s fortunes. As it continues to become clear they cannot deal with the largest clubs in England any longer, the comparisons to Claudio Ranieri will start.

Flashy ride to relegation

Robbie Savage has provoked an angry reaction from teammates at Derby County after showing up to training in a brand new 160,000 pound Mercedes Benz.

Savage is entitled to drive whatever he likes, but will almost certainly be dropped against Sunderland this weekend after failing to register any impact whatsoever at his new club –that is except to raise the sunglasses of the other players as theymake a double take at his new wheels.

Savage arrived from Blackburn Rovers for 1.5m pounds in the January transfer window and has been in poor form as Derby, with just nine points and a single win, are likely to go lower than the 15 points Sunderland scored back in 2003.

Savage will be showing his flash ride in the Championship next season, that you can take to the bank.

More money than you can shake a stick at

If you think Alex Ferguson was pissed the last time Real Madrid were making headlines trying to tempt winger Cristiano Ronaldo away from Manchester United, then he will go red when he hears about their latest tactics.

Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon is all over the Spanish media telling anyone that will listen that he still has a chance to sign his dream-boat. And this time we are not talking huge transfer fees, the latest attempt to lure Ronaldo will go right to his pocketbook in the way of making him the highest paid player in the world.

To fuel speculation, Jorge Mendes who is Ronaldo’s agent, has been meeting with Real Madrid sporting director Predrag Mijatovic. While he claims its for other matters, don’t believe it. Real have a history of destabilizing players thru the media and the love affair with Ronaldo has not lasted the better part of 3 years. Let's just say the meeting wasn't exactly private.

The proposed salary: over 8m pounds per year, and with income tax in Spain about half that of England it would roughly equal 200,000 pounds a week were he being paid within the Premier League.

Ronaldo has scored a whopping 29 goals this season for United and signed a new 120,000 pound a week deal for 5 years. It’s more than likely that Mendes is trying to renegotiate terms and squeeze a few more quid out of Old Trafford, and why not? A winger that can score 30 goals in a season should be the highest paid player in the world.

At the moment Brazilian international Kaka is the highest paid player in the world, where AC Milan shell out 130,000 pounds a week.

I doubt Ronaldo would like to leave, I would imagine Manchester making him top of the salary heap will quiet Madrid.

Ten Cate in row with Captain

Henk ten Cate has never been the calm type. In fact, he has often been criticized by former players for his temper, aggressiveness and often abuse coaching methods. It appears the former Ajax manager has not let anyone down at Chelsea after a furious row has been reported taking place the day before the Carling Cup final.

Ten Cate joined Chelsea to bolster Avram Grant's staff back in October after leaving Ajax. He confirmed a ‘difference of opinion’ regarding the intensity of a training session but eye witnesses see it much differently.

Terry and ten Cate squared each other up and apparently let loose with a tirade of swearing and yelling – all done in front of owner Roman Abramovich. It was also ten Cate who stepped to Terry after the captain complained. They were separated by other Chelsea players. While ten Cate thinks everything is fine, it may not be as after the session, Terry refused to accept an apology.

Apparently there was a lot of tension among the Chelsea players as players were left guessing at team selection for the final.