Get Well Soon Carlo

I'm sure you'll join me in wishing Carlo Cudicini a quick recovery:- 

Tottenham goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini has fractured his wrists and injured his pelvis after he was involved in a serious road accident on Thursday.

The 36-year-old Italian goalkeeper was admitted to hospital and underwent scans under the supervision of the club's medical staff.

Cudicini's BMW superbike collided with a Ford Fiesta on Forest Road, Walthamstow at 10.30am.

The former Chelsea star's injuries were initially described by the police as 'possibly life-changing'.

A police spokesperson confirmed: "A 36-year-old male suffered injuries described as possibly life-changing and was taken to an East London hospital for further assessment and treatment."

A spokesperson for Tottenham, who later confirmed the goalkeeper had fractured his wrists and injured his pelvis, said: "We can confirm Carlo Cudicini was involved in a road accident this morning. The club doctor is with him at hospital where we await the result of scans and tests."

The female driver and a child passenger walked away from the car - which was described as a 'write-off' - and did not need hospital treatment. 

Other injury news from football365:-

Bad news for Chelsea on Wednesday night, or, to be more precise, bad news from Chelsea on Wednesday night with the club themselves confirming that their defender Jose Bosingwa will be out for around three months after undergoing surgery on his left knee.

A statement released on the club's official website read: "Chelsea Football Club can confirm that Jose Bosingwa underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee this week. His recovery time will be approximately three months."

However, the same statement also included the reassurance that Ashley Cole will not require surgery to sort out his leg injury while it seems as if there shouldn't be much concern about Didier Drogba's withdrawal from the Ivory Coast squad for this weekend's World Cup qualifier with Guinea.

The Daily Star says that Chelsea are 'confident' and 'optimistic' that he will be passed fit for their game with Wolves when the league season resumes next weekend.

Unfortunately, good news is conspicuous by its absence for Liverpool.

The Times says that scans have confirmed that both Albert Riera and Yossi Benayoun tore their hamstrings against Birmingham and will be out of action for a month.

The newspaper also says that 'Fernando Torres has begun a rehabilitation programme aimed at curing a longstanding groin problem and the Spain forward could be unavailable for up to two weeks.'

Gulp.

And there's still more. Rafa Benitez has admitted his concern at the recurrence of Daniel Agger's back problem on Monday night and the defender has pulled out of Denmark's friendlies this week. So the only ray of meagre comfort is that Glen Johnson's thigh complaint is not thought to be serious, though scans will reveal the full extent of the damage later this week

Cheers,
AM

Injury Update - 11/11/09

From football365.com

The good news for Man United fans is that Dimitar Berbatov is likely to be fit to face Everton next weekend as he has informed the Bulgarian FA that he will face Malta in Sofia next Wednesday, though he will miss a friendly this weekend.

He is currently in Manchester undergoing treatment on his knee injury but will play in seven days' time.

Ji-Sung Park will also play for his country against both Denmark and Serbia after missing six weeks of club football with a knee injury.

"I am in good enough shape to play in the friendlies," Park said. "If it is possible, I want to play in both matches."

Everton 'keeper Tim Howard has been added to the list of Toffees in the treatment room with a foot injury that will keep him out of the United States' upcoming internationals.

He apparently has 'damaged fibres on the underside of his foot' - which sounds awfully like a ladder in his sock.

He should be okay to face Manchester United on November 21, while Leon Osman (ankle), Steven Pienaar (knee) and Phil Neville (knee) are all pencilled in for returns in that game.

Wolves goalkeeper Matt Murray has reassured fans that the latest setback in his comeback from a long-term knee injury is only a minor one.

Murray, who has been out for nearly a year after rupturing his patella tendon while on loan with Hereford, started for the reserves in their 2-0 win over Birmingham last night and lasted just 23 minutes before being withdrawn.

"I just felt a little bit of discomfort in the early stages and the medical team felt there was no point in trying to carry on and play the 90 minutes and take any risks," he told www.wolves.co.uk.

"It's better to take the precaution, see how things settle down and then carry on my rehab."

Manchester City winger Martin Petrov has pulled out of international action with a knee injury. He will stay at a Barcelona clinic and then return to Manchester for further treatment while his teammates go on their jollies to the Middle East.

Talking of which, Robinho was apparently fit enough after his ankle injury to take part in training in front of City's new owners. He even led the jog around the pitch for a few seconds at least.

Cheers,
AM

Injury Update 10/11/09

From football365.com

Bad to worse for Liverpool? Apparently so because Rafa Benitez is fearing the worst for Albert Riera and Yossi Benayoun after they were injured against Birmingham on Monday night.

According to the club's official website, Benitez 'fears both wingers tore their hamstrings' in the 2-2 draw.

"Riera had the same problem as before. The players are sometimes available but not 100 per cent ready. We thought he was okay but in the end you can see he wasn't," Benitez bemoaned.

"Yossi has the same problem as Riera. Some players are playing too many games in a row. They are working very hard and so you always have this risk. I think both will have tears."

As for Fernando Torres, who missed the match, there's no guarantee that will be fit for the Man City clash in two weeks either.

"Torres had no confidence and said he couldn't play, so we started the treatment yesterday," reported Benitez. "He has to work with the physios and try to improve and be ready. We are not talking about an operation at this moment, we're talking about treating him properly. I don't know if he will be ready for Man City. The only thing I can say is we're talking about two or three weeks working with the physios. We haven't got a deadline, we just need to see how he is every day."

The only bit of good news delivered by the Pool manager concerned Steven Gerrard. "I think he will be okay," said Benitez. "We have to check. There's small things but I think he'll be okay."

Seems as if the seriousness of Ashley Cole's foot injury has been exaggerated.

According to The Daily Telegraph, 'It has now been decided by Chelsea's medical department that Cole requires rest. It had been feared that the 28 year-old would be out for six weeks but Chelsea are being far more optimistic. With the international break, the club hope that Cole may miss only the Premier League match at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Champions League tie away to Porto.'

However, the Telegraph also says that 'first-choice right-back Jose Bosingwa may also be out for at least another month. The Portuguese international underwent an exploratory procedure yesterday to find out why his knee is not responding to treatment although it is still hoped he may be able to recover without having to undergo surgery.'

Nicklas Bendtner says he needs surgery on his injured groin.
"I will have an operation. I don't know how long I will be out," the Arsenal forward has been quoted as reporting.

If accurate, it's highly unlikely he will play again this year. However, Arsenal are well stocked with players who could play on the right of their front three, which is where Bendtner has been playing this season, and The Daily Mail reckons that Theo Walcott will make his return on November 21.

Cheers,
AM

Week 11 - Monday

Week 11 came to a close with a thrilling clash between Liverpool & Birmingham at Anfield. The game finished 2-2 & I don’t think anyone can deny Liverpool deserved at least a draw after dominating possession throughout, but there is plenty of controversy over the N’gog penalty decision

N’gog did dive – he flung himself in the air when there was no contact so it isn’t a penalty. However, if he doesn’t jump out of the way then I imagine Lee Carsley’s desperate lunge (which got nowhere near the ball) is going to cause N’gog some serious damage. It’s more the way he flung himself in the air that’s the issue, but if you look at what Darren Bent did against Spurs the only difference is Bent has used his experience to ensure Gomes has caught him by leaving his leg trailing, while N’gog did not. The young Frenchman will be labelled a cheat while Bent gets away with no criticism, so I have some sympathy.

In fantasy football terms there were decent points for Dann, R Johnson, Benitez, Jerome, G Johson, Lucas, N’gog & Gerrard, but again no clean sheets for any defenders. The fact I only dropped 60 places over night suggests not many people picked up many points (Benyoun with just 3) although a special mention to Roger Johnson who again scored 10 points & really has been a consistently outstanding performer so far this season.

We have no games this weekend so there won’t be too many posts until next week, although I’ll keep you updated on injury news & any views on the World Cup Play-Offs / Brazil v England friendly. Until then keep the comments coming regarding your Week 12 team as I’ll have more time to reply with less posts to write...you’ll also find me over on the chat room a fair amount which is really going well with some great discussions.

A reminder that Week 12 is Round 2 of The Blog Cup which 200 of us are still part of & the 1st round of The AM Challenge is pencilled in for Week 14 which should give us the time to fill the last few spaces of Blog League 6. If you haven't got a space in any of the leagues yet then please join with the details below:

Group ID: 23246
Password: yahoo 

Cheers,
AM

Week 11 - Sunday

Another excellent day of Premiership football as Chelsea stretched their lead at the top of the table to 5 points with a 1-0 win over Man Utd.

I didn't have any players (other than Drogba who gained his worst score of the season) but I enjoyed the game as both teams showed real passion & the game pinged from end to end. To be honest I thought Man U were slightly the better side but the current Chelsea squad tend to grind out wins in tight games. I will say I thought the referee was shocking - I lost count of the number of basic decisions he got wrong (for both teams) throughout the game.

In terms of my team I had a decent day as Matt Etherington scored, adding 16.5 points to my weekly total & Rodallega a further 10.5. I end the week on 73.5 points which would normally leave me disappointed, but due to it being a generally low scoring week it has actually moved me 500 places up the rankings in to the 1400th place. I'll fall a bit after the Liverpool game tomorrow but should still enter Week 12 in the top 1750 or so.

On the barndoor I decided I'm likely to go 3-5-2 due to the excellent midfield options available & my team will probably contain at least 7 double gamers. I grabbed Schwarzer, Nelsen, Duff, Dempsey, Bullard & Roberts, and I'm glad I did as all their prices have risen quite significantly.

I may well downgrade Schwarzer to Myhill & lose Roberts but as we don't have any games for 2 weeks it's not something I need to worry about right now. I did think about Saha on the bd but I'm aware the Yak is back so with his injury record he may only play 1 of the 2 games (possibly away to Man Utd).

With my current team I still have £6m in the bank so I may look at a way of getting another Chelsea player in for the Wolves game...possibly Lampard although he may prove too expensive in a double week. I really don't want to lose my huge discounts on Alexander & O'Hara so it's very possible they stay (along with Drogba & Verm). Samba, Zamora, Konchesky, Paintsil, Geovanni & Hunt are other players I'm considering.

That's if for now - just a reminder that Week 12 is Round 2 of The Blog Cup which 200 of us are still part of & the 1st round of The AM Challenge is pencilled in for Week 14 which should give us the time to fill the last few spaces of Blog League 6. If you haven't got a space in any of the leagues yet then please join with the details below:

Group ID: 23246
Password: yahoo

How did you get on in Week 11? Have you got anyone left to play  in the Liverpoov Birmingham game? And  who came in on the barndoor?

Cheers,
AM

Week 11 - Saturday

Bloody Shay Given. I've written countless time that I hate spending money on keepers because they almost always disappoint me. In previous seasons I would always pick the cheapest keeper I could buy that I didn't think would get hammered 4 or 5 nil but this year I've tried to pick point scoring keepers in the hope I may be able to turn regular Top 500 finishes in to regular Top 100 finishes.- I think I'm going to go back to the tactic of picking cheap keepers.

It was a strange Saturday. I only scored 46 points but somehow moved up 400 places in to the Top 2000, proving it was a very low scoring week. My big decision was to avoid Fabregas or Van Persie & in my opinion it was justified in the end. They returned 20 points combined so were nowhere near worth spending £40m on (thank God!).

I've mentioned Given, but Alexander again helped me out with another penalty. He's probably a season keeper for me as he always has a chance of a penalty but he's also started taking free kicks around the box too & seeing as I hold him at just £5.5m I'd be crazy to drop him. I (along with plenty of other managers) was on the verge of securing 6 clean sheet points for Gibbs & Vermaelen, but a last minute consolation for Wolves made it 0 & 3.

In midfield O'Hara continued to put up fantastic points & again he's a player who'll stay at just £5.7m. I bigged him up when he first joined Portsmouth & told people to buy him so I hope others took my advice. Dunn was also well worth the money but Harry decided that Niko Kranjcar should stay on the bench. The fact he came on for 20 minutes & almost scored twice as Spurs turned the screw on Sunderland proves he should've been on from the start.

Upfront only Adebyaor has played for me so far & he was a wast of space as he barely toughed the ball all game. I was very lucky he was awarded an assist as otherwise he would've received almost zero. I doubt I'll pick him again as he appears to be back to his lazy ways. I really can't stand him.

With Drogba, Rodallega & Etherington to come I have to hope I can get up to around 70 points which I feel will be a par score for the week. Rodallega was my big hunch pick this week so he's the man I'm really relying on to score a brace vs Fulham. I picked him ahead of Defoe which so far looks wise as Defoe scored the same as Adebayor.

One quick note - isn't typical that I drop all my Villa players aftr a double week only for Young, Milner, Agbonlahor, Friedel score 20, 21, 13.5 & 11?

So far on the barndoor I haven't done much other than grabbing Jason Roberts for £6m after his double (with a double week for Blackburn) & Ryan Nelsen. I'm having trouble deciding on exactly who to pick up but Robbo, Myhill, Duff, Dempsey, Geovanni, Hunt, Bullard, Zamora, Johnson, Lampard & Fabregas are some of the players I'm considering.

How has your week gone? Who's in on the barndoor?

Cheers,
AM

Week 11 - My Team

Given

Vermaelen  Alexander  Gibbs

Kranjcar  Dunn  O'Hara  Etherington

Drogba  Adebayor  Rodallega

The first thing you'll notice - I have neither Cesc Fabregas nor Robin Van Persie. It's a huge call & one that could see me falling a long way down the rankings if Arsenal turn it on at Wolves, but I had a lot of fun picking my team this week not having to worry about ploughing £40m in to 2 players. Even if both players score a goal, it's possible they won't return their value...I just have to hope they don't go crazy & return 30 points each!

In goal I've gone for Shay Given on the barndoor. I haven't had much luck picking keepers this season but City should keep a clean sheet. My defence contains my only 2 Arsenal players, Vermaelen + Gibbs & I decided to hang on to Alexander at £5.5m - a penalty taking defender playing in midfield was too good to let go with so few clean sheets around for other defenders.

My midfield contains 4 set piece takers: O'Hara, Etherington, Dunn & Kranjcar. All 4 are capable of returning more than their value with their fixtures & I'll need to hope they do to make up for the points Fabregas is sure to rack up. Kranjcar was very nearly replaced with Martin Petrov, but I decided I wanted 1 Spurs player & I already had 2 City players.

Upfront I have Drogba & decided that I needed a Man City striker - step forward Adebayor. My final spot cam down to Defoe or Rodallega & I've gone for the Wigan man. Fulham travel back from Roma with a fair number of injuries & rarely do well after Europa Cup games, especially away from home so I think Rodallega has a great chance of a goal or 2. I think Defoe will score too, but as a Spurs fan I'll get joy from that anyway (plus I have £10 on him scoring), so I'm certainly hedging my bets!

So I have: 2 Arsenal players, 2 City, 1 Chelsea, 1 Spurs, 1 Wigan, 1 Portsmouth, 1 Blackburn, 1 Stoke, 1 Burnley...a nice spread of players which will hopefully give me a number of chances if 1 or 2 particular teams don't perform.

Good luck to everyone! Let me know your team & who you're planning on picking up on the barndoor. I'd also like to hear your opinions on going without RvP & Fabregas - have I made a terrible mistake? It's certainly a choice I feel very nervous about...

Cheers,
AM

Week 11 Injuries

This is my last post until the deadline tomorrow. Here are all the known injury doubts & suspensions at time of writing:-

ASTON VILLA
Suspended: Beye & Petrov (both one match)
Doubtful: Gardner (groin), Heskey (back), Milner (calf)
Injured: Davies (shoulder), Downing (foot)
BOLTON
Suspended: Samuel (one match)
Doubtful: Riga & Shittu (hamstring)
Injured: Davis (knee), J O'Brien (knee)

BLACKBURN
Suspended: None
Doubtful: None
Injured: Grella (thigh)
PORTSMOUTH
Suspended: None
Doubtful: Piquionne (neck), Utaka (groin)
Injured: Finnan (groin), Hreidarsson (foot), Diop (fitness)

MAN CITY
Suspended: None  
Doubtful: Bridge (knee), Santa Cruz (ankle)
Injured: Ball (foot), Onuoha (thigh), Robinho (fitness)
BURNLEY
Suspended: None
Doubtful: Jordan (thigh)
Injured: Paterson & McCann (knee), Rodriguez (ankle)

TOTTENHAM
Suspended: None
Doubtful: Corluka (illness), Lennon (ankle)
Injured: Bassong (hamstring), Giovani (ankle), Modric (broken leg)
SUNDERLAND
Suspended: Cana (one match), Jones (three matches)
Doubtful: None
Injured: Cattermole (knee), Mensah (calf), Zenden (hip)

WOLVES
Suspended: None
Doubtful: None
Injured: Foley (knee), Iwelumo (foot), Jones, Ward (both knee)
ARSENAL
Suspended: None
Doubtful: None
Injured: Bendtner (groin), Clichy & Denilson (both back), Fabianski (thigh), Djourou, Walcott (knee), Traore & Vela (groin/fitness), Wilshere (ankle)

CHELSEA
Suspended: None
Doubtful: Bosingwa (knee), Mikel (ankle), Zhirkov (knee)
Injured: None
MAN UTD
Suspended: Neville (two matches)  
Doubtful: Berbatov (knee), Giggs (hip), Vidic (calf)
Injured: Ferdinand (calf/back), Hargreaves (knee), Park (knee), Wellbeck (knee)

HULL
Suspended: Geovanni (one match)
Doubtful: Bullard (shin), Myhill (knee)
Injured: Ashbee (knee)
STOKE
Suspended: None
Doubtful: Diao (calf)
Injured: Amdy Faye (back)

WEST HAM
Suspended: None 
Doubtful: None
Injured: Ashton (ankle), Boa Morte (knee), Cole (hamstring), Davenport (leg), Dyer (hamstring), Ilunga (hamstring)
EVERTON
Suspended: Bilyaletdinov (three matches)
Doubtful: Pienaar (knee)
Injured: Anichebe, Arteta, Jagielka, Neville & Vaughan (all knee), Osman (foot)

WIGAN
Suspended: None
Doubtful: None
Injured: Figueroa (knee)
FULHAM
Suspended: None
Doubtful: A Johnson (shoulder), Murphy (knee)
Injured: Duff (Achilles), Kallio (Achilles), Stockdale (knee)

LIVERPOOL
Suspended: Carragher (one match) & Degan (three matches)
Doubtful: Aurelio (calf), Dossena (groin), Torres (groin),
Injured: Gerrard (groin), Johnson (calf), Reira (hamstring)
BIRMINGHAM
Suspended: Ferguson (one match)
Doubtful: O'Connor (groin), Fahey & Tainio (both knee), Martin Taylor (ankle)
Injured: Murphy (knee)

If there are any injuries or suspensions you think I've missed then please add them to the comments section below. I'll be back with My Team tomorrow at midday & I'll probably be in the Chat Room later this evening.

Good luck!

Cheers,
AM