with you on this one

celtic > rangers

West Ham have been stunned by a second trauma in two days after it emerged midfielder Jack Collison’s father has died in a motorcycle accident.

Ian Collison, 46, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, was on his way to see his son play against Spurs on Sunday when he crashed his red Honda bike on the M25 near Epping.

Emergency services were called to the crash, which happened just before noon, but Mr Collison, a roofer, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jack Collison of West Ham United

Promise: Collison has been tipped for big things

It leaves manager Gianfranco Zola having to deal with two shattering incidents as Calum Davenport had a second emergency operation yesterday following the stabbing incident which has left him fighting to save his career.

Zola had already talked of the shock among West Ham’s players about the horrific injuries to Davenport.

He said: ‘It was unbelievable. You don’t expect things like this to happen, especially people you know. Now all that is important is that he is all right, the rest about his future can be decided in the next days.’

Dealing with two such horrific personal traumas will be a severe test of Zola’s management skills, less than a year after he joined the club.

The Italian has fostered a close-knit atmosphere among his relatively small squad and has encouraged youngsters such as Collison to compete for first-team places.

A West Ham spokeswoman said: ‘Our thoughts are with Jack and his family and we ask people to respect his privacy at a very difficult time for them.’

Collison, 20, had played all but the final minute of West Ham’s 2-1 defeat, which kicked off at 1.30pm.

The Wales midfielder did not learn of his father’s death until the early evening as Essex Police had difficulties establishing the identity of the next of kin.

Mr Collison and Jack’s mother, Amanda, separated when the player was young.

Collison was picked by Sportsmail’s Jamie Redknapp as one of his 10 players to watch for the season — a sign of his rich promise.

Redknapp wrote: ‘He grabbed my attention last season as a good midfield allrounder,
an emerging talent. He’ll get plenty of football and working with Gianfranco Zola will only help him to improve. His energy and touch suggest West Ham have discovered yet another talent.’

Defender Davenport, 26, was in a stable condition in intensive care after a second emergency operation on his legs on Monday.
West Ham United's, Calum Davenport

Stable: Davenport

It is not yet known whether he will be able to play again. His mother was also in a stable condition.

Davenport’s sister’s boyfriend, Worrell Whitehurst, 25, from Derby, was charged with
causing grievous bodily harm with intent at Bedford Magistrates Court yesterday.

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That's just horrible. My thoughts are with him and the family.

Very horrible. He must of learned about it after the game cause he played. Made even more terrible by it being on the way to see him play :/ R.I.P

Collinson )=

I have to look out for him. bought him on soccer manager.

Ah. RIP to him. also, i hope calum davenports injuries dont threaten his career :O

GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM?!?!

At times i really hate the UK justice system..

RIP.

Arsene Wenger has warned his Arsenal stars not to let complacency hand Celtic a European lifeline in Wednesday's UEFA Champions League play-off second leg.

Wenger's side have one foot in the lucrative UEFA Champions League group stages after cruising to a 2-0 victory over Celtic at Parkhead last week. The Gunners' impressive display in Scotland means they don't need to win the return to go through. A draw or even a one-goal defeat would be enough to secure their place in Europe's elite club competition.

But while Wenger is happy to be in such a strong position, he knows Celtic won't go down without a fight and he is keen to ensure his players don't underestimate the Glasgow club. "The tie is not safe, we know that," he said.
We experienced a very physical game over there. We know the job has to be finished, but we are still in a strong position,
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

"We experienced a very physical game over there. We know the job has to be finished, but we are still in a strong position. The result will be determined by the way we play the second leg."

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Glad Wenger came out with us - now we have no excuse to go out there and play like the game is already won. Come out of the traps flying, score some early goals and then maybe we can take our foot off the pedal - reserve some energy for the Mancs.

Credit where it's due, Brad Freidel had an amazing game.

Liverpool miss alonso so much, I just hope the damage isn't too much until Aqualri (sp?) is match fit.

Manchester United are lining up a shock move for Real Madrid winger Arjen Robben.

The Daily Mail says the Holland star is out of a favour at Real Madrid and is eyeing a return to the Barclays Premier League.

Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted that he will not sign any more players this summer - but he may be tempted with a move for £25million-rated Robben.

Robben was close to joining United before he signed for Chelsea from PSV Eindhoven in 2004 and would provide the speed and goals neither Antonio Valencia nor Nani can offer.

Ferguson still has most of the £80m they received from Real for Ronaldo.

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Like I said, this guy is a real talent and would be a super signing for anyone. I hope doesnt go to Utd.

Everton are in advanced talks for Russian winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.

A delegation from Goodison Park is expected to fly to Hamburg in the next 24 hours to conduct a medical on the Locomotiv Moscow left winger who is likely to cost boss David Moyes close to £9million.

The 24-year-old will need a work permit, but with him being a regular in the Russia side, that is unlikely to be a problem.

Holding the medical in Hamburg will also speed up the move ahead of next week's deadline because Bilyaletdinov does not have a visa as yet to enter the UK.

Anderson is losing confidence amongst the Manchester United coaching staff, it has been revealed.

The Daily Mail says Anderson is believed to have made his feelings clear to United manager Sir Alex Ferguson after being left out of the Community Shield against Chelsea earlier this month and suggested his future might lie elsewhere.

It is believed that some of Ferguson’s staff have reservations over the Brazilian, who flopped in the Champions League Final against Barcelona and was disappointing on his return against Burnley last week.

But with concerns over whether Owen Hargreaves will play again and having lost Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez this summer, the United boss is keen not to rock the boat any further.

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Yeah, they say this, yet watch him have a stormer against us on Saturday. He always steps up his game against Arsenal.

Mind you, he still hasnt scored a premier league goal for Utd in the time hes been there....:laugh3:

Hopefully we get him

Just want us to sign players quick LOL

Yeah some reinforcements are needed badly

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Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has demanded his senior players take more responsibility after their defeat to Aston Villa last night.

"The team have to improve, and a lot depends on the senior players accepting responsibility and doing their bit to make it happen," rapped Benitez.

"It was a mistake for the first goal but Gerrard made one as well for the penalty and it is clear we should have done better for the second. There were too many people in Liverpool shirts involved for their player to get his head to the ball.

"If you are going to analyse errors, you are going to be analysing a lot of things when you are losing games, you have to change things. In our case, the change has to be the level of performance and it has to improve against Bolton at the weekend.

"It's not good talking about the title. We can't afford to look any further than our next game. People can talk about transfer funds but this team finished so close to the top last season and should be doing better."


Makes a good point, Gerrard has started the season slowly as has Torres. Without them playing at their best, Liverpool look VERY ordinary.

Everton have completed the signing of Russian winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.

Bugger. No traffic round Fratton Park :dazzler:

:cheer:

Good international player for everton.
But hes a winger i think you still need to buy a centre defender.


I agree completely with Mark to, liverpool are definately missing alonso, hes the provider to gerrard and torres and right now they dont have that.
Aquilani is different hes attacking midfielder wonder if he will fit the specification..

Can benitez not just come out and say, we need to train better, we couldnt find the net all be it having more shots, and next week will will make sure we do. instead of coming out with a lot of ****.

Arsenal boss Wenger ponders defensive signing
25.08.09 | tribalfootball.com

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger hasn't ruled out making a defensive signing before the summer market shuts.

"We are not desperate because if you look at the players who are out and those who are available, it shows that we have a big squad," he said.

"Maybe in the defensive area we could still do something, but everybody looks at basically the same places."

Fabregas out for Celtic game. Not that it'll be an issue anyway, Arsenal are due to tear them a new arsehole round 2.

Breaking News!

Rangers are a bunch of vile drunken nazis!

:joker:

Arsenal will smash it again. :bouncy:

Nazi's? lol, you do realise they're loyalist, and therefore the actual opposite. But nice retort anyway :tongue: Now focus on your own teams mishaps.