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As well as producing future England stars through their famed academy, West Ham are also perhaps more infamously known for their more comical signings, especially under the tenure of Harry Redknapp. Without further delay, here are my top ten;

MARCO BOOGERS

Harry Redknapp is often known for his shrewd dealings in the transfer market. What is less known is that for every stellar signing at West Ham, Redknapp also made a howler, and his signing of Dutchman Marco Boogers falls into that category. Apparently Redknapp had the option of either signing Marcus Stewart or a striker he hadn’t actually ever seen play in the form of Boogers. Redknapp went for Boogers in a £1m transfer. What followed were 4 substitute appearances, including a sending off for an outrageous challenge on Gary Neville within 90 seconds of coming on, followed by Boogers disappearing to a caravan site and being declared mentally unfit to be a footballer. He reappeared 2 seasons later playing for RKC Waalwijk.

SAVIO NSEREKO

Having signed for a club record fee of £9m in January 2009, the then 19 year-old Ugandan-born German national was touted by West Ham’s then technical director Gianluca Nani as the next big thing. The problem was, he wasn’t, and even if he was, West Ham didn’t let him hang around long enough to find out, selling him to Fiorentina for around £6m in the summer of 2009. That’s a £3m loss over 6 months. Mind you, West Ham will get 50% of any sell-on fee, and managed to get Manuel Da Costa out of the deal.

CARLOS TEVEZ/JAVIER MASCHERANO

The Carlos Tevez aspect of this may be slightly controversial considering, according to UK Law, he single handedly kept West Ham in the Premier League to the tune of £30m. But bearing in mind in the season prior to the arrival of the Argentinean duo, West Ham had come within a Steven Gerrard screamer of winning the FA Cup and had finished 3 points away from a European place in the league and the whole affair is put in perspective. Enter Kia Joorabchian with Tevez and Mascherano in the summer of 2006. Having upset the balance of the team so much that manager Alan Pardew, who job seemed fairly secure prior to their arrival, was sacked in December 2006, Mascherano subsequently left for Liverpool in January and Tevez, who for most of the season struggled to find form, found himself as a talisman towards the end of the season. Considering the trouble his arrival caused, the least Tevez could do was score 7 goals in 9 games at the end of the season to keep the Irons up. However, the effects of this transfer resonate long after Tevez’s departure as the club is still having to pay compensation to Sheffield United.

FLORIN RADUCIOIU

Signed at around the same time as fellow Romanian Ilie Dumitrescu, Raducioiu flattered to deceive with his performances. Catching the eye during the 1994 World Cup he was snapped up by Redknapp in the summer of 1996, with the then West Ham manager noting the striker was aptly-named because his displays for the club were “worth about two bob”. After clashing with Redknapp because he had gone shopping with his girlfriend on a match day, the Romanian was soon on his way back to Espanyol having only made 14 appearances for the Hammers.

PAOLO FUTRE

A fabulously talented Portuguese international winger, Futre made his name playing for Atletico Madrid. When he signed a one-year contract at Upton Park in 1996, no one had told the then West Ham manager Harry Redknapp that Futre would only play in his beloved number 10 shirt, problem was, that shirt already belonged to John Moncur, even though Futre had it written into his contract that he must have the number 10. What ensued was a Portuguese paddy, followed by Futre bribing Moncur with the promise of holidays at his villa in the Algarve. Moncur courteously accepted, Futre had his number 10 shirt and saw out his one-year contract with West Ham, making only 10 appearances. Remarkably Futre and Redknapp still reportedly keep in touch.

Head to PAGE TWO for the rest of the Top 10…

MAURICIO TARICCO

I feel very harsh including Mauricio in this list, but alas, his free transfer from Spurs in 2004 was a nightmare for both player and club. Lining up against West Ham’s bitter rivals Millwall on his debut, Taricco lasted 27 minutes before tearing his hamstring. The Argentinean then offered to cancel his contract at West Ham, effectively going into retirement. West Ham manager at the time Alan Pardew noted that; “This is one of the most honest acts from a player I have experienced in all my years in the game”. Taricco is now the assistant manager at Brighton and has registered as a player wearing the number 27 shirt, perhaps in honour of the number of minutes he lasted as a West Ham player.

JOEY BEAUCHAMP

One of Billy Bonds final acts as West Ham manager was to secure the signature of Joey Beauchamp. Signed from Oxford United in 1994 for £1.2m, Beauchamp was heralded as one for the future. He may well have been, but just not at West Ham. Citing the daily commute from Oxford as the principal problem, Beauchamp decided to call it quits having never donned the claret and blue in a competitive fixture.

KIERON DYER

This transfer could still turn out to be a dream as Dyer is still at the club, but it is seemingly highly unlikely. Injury prone even prior to his £6m move from Newcastle in 2007, Dyer subsequently suffered a double leg break in a League Cup tie against Bristol Rovers in August 2007, and in 4 seasons for the club, has only featured in 24 games. On a reported salary of £83,000 per week including image rights, West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan suggested Dyer follow Dean Ashton into retirement.

DANI

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He was a loan signing, what could possibly go wrong? For me after scoring the winner at White Hart Lane he could do whatever he wanted, but, alas, this wasn’t the case for Harry Redknapp and after 9 games he was sacked by the then West Ham manager after missing training because of a night out on the sauce.

JAVIER MARGAS

I was a huge fan of the Chilean when he played for West Ham from 1998-2001, but the nightmare side of him came when he disappeared. No one at the club had any idea where he was, and around a month passed before his whereabouts were known and he turned up back in his native country. Needless to say this signalled the end of his career at the east London club. Having opened his own hotel in Chile he has said any West Ham fan can stay there for free. He has also appeared on a reality TV show in his native country and now owns Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet’s armoured car. Nice.

So, that concludes my top ten, there are many more, so if you feel I have missed out anyone, feel free to add to the list.

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Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has stated that the players owe manager David Moyes a victory, after losing 3-0 to Liverpool on Tuesday on the eve of the coach’s 10-year-anniversary at the club.

A Steven Gerrard hat-trick ended a nine-match unbeaten run for the Toffees, and the United States international is eyeing a win against Sunderland in the FA Cup this weekend.

“It [Anfield] is never a nice place to lose, but with the anniversary and everything, it’s even more so. Ten years is a lot of results, a lot of highs and lows,” the keeper admitted to Mirror Football.

“We had gone into the game on the back of a really good run, but unfortunately it didn’t end in the storybook way we all hoped. But this is a good team, this is a good bunch of boys, and there is definitely no problem with the character in the squad.

“We will be up for the fight at the weekend, and it would be fantastic to get a good result to give everyone a lift after what has been a long week. It won’t be for the lack of trying.

“Losing derbies always hurts, but we are professionals, we want to see it out, so we will get back to work and hopefully get a result,” he stated.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Lille have all but wrapped up the Ligue 1 title after a 1-0 win over Sochaux on Wednesday put them six points clear at the top of the table.With two games remaining and a superior goal-difference over the chasing Marseille, Lille would have to suffer two hefty defeats to throw away the title.

Ivory Coast attacker Gervinho scored the only goal of the game on 53 minutes after an assist from Moussa Sow.

It was enough to extend Lille’s unbeaten run in all competitions to eight games, while defeat leaves Sochaux in sixth.

Paris Saint-Germain missed their chance to move into third after they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Bordeaux.

Mali attacker Cheick Diabate hit a sixth-minute penalty to move Bordeaux into eighth.

PSG, who are fourth, could have moved into Lyon’s UEFA Champions League spot with a win but instead remain two points behind.

They also need to hold off fifth-placed Stade Rennes, who are two points behind them.

Downfall was a colossal movie. I’d argue that pretty much everyone who saw it felt the same as me and that in time it would become what they call on Film buff shows, ‘seminal’.

Few however would have imagined the comedy door it would open for subtitled spoofs globally. I don’t know how many Downfall parodies there have been, but a conservative guess would be lots.

Here’s my 6 Of The Best. Feel free to add yours!

Newcastle HERE

West Ham HERE

Liverpool HERE

Everton HERE

Arsenal HERE

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Chelsea HERE

It may not have been pretty or convincing, but Sunday saw Liverpool break their six-year silverware drought with victory over Cardiff at Wembley. Rewind just one year, and it was Arsenal who found themselves as losing finalists, in a defeat which saw the wheels well and truly come of off their season. Looking at this it shows just how important victory for the Reds, and the trophy won, could be for the rest of their campaign.

The Carling Cup gets a bit of a tough rap nowadays, often dubbed as the FA Cup’s ugly sibling, a competition which rather than desired, is seen as an unnecessary distraction. To some extent this may be true, but there is no underestimating the importance of winning and the confidence it brings, especially at the business end of a competition. Kenny Dalglish and his men will be looking to use this in their quest to get back into the Champions League and attract new players to the club.

As their rivals continue to stutter in their charge for fourth spot, due to a combination of factors, the Anfield men are entering what could be their best from of the season. Last campaign Liverpool struggled before Christmas, failing to find form and subsequently slipping down the table. This soon changed after January, with the men in red putting together an impressive run to finish in sixth spot, narrowly missing out on Europa League football. Admittedly last term saw the ill fated reign of Roy Hodgson contribute heavily to the poor start, but history has a habit of repeating itself, and without the burden of European football and an increasing sense of belief, its not out of the question that Liverpool could put a similar run together.

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Another factor in Liverpool’s favour is the return of a full strength squad, after the suspension of Luis Suarez and the long-term injuries of Steven Gerrard. Dalglish has now been able to link up his absentees with £35 million striker Andy Carroll, which has been somewhat of a rarity under the Scots tenure. The combination of these three men could prove to be a difference in the run for fourth, with both Chelsea and Arsenal suffering losses of form and Newcastle, arguably, not having the depth of squad to maintain a challenge. Suarez has been impressive since his return to the squad, netting on his first start at Old Trafford and following this with a header in the 6-1 FA Cup triumph over Brighton, this has been coupled with the return of Gerrard to full fitness and Carroll beginning to find his goal scoring touch.

The run in FA Cup has also contributed to the positive feeling around the club, with high scoring victories over Oldham and Brighton as well as a dramatic win against Manchester United. A home draw against Stoke City now awaits the reds in the Quarter-final of the competition, a game which Dalglish will surely feel is winnable. Although some of the Premier League’s big players remain in the competition, the Anfield club are one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

There remains a long way to go this season, but the victory at Wembley and the confidence it delivers could be a real factor in the defining of Liverpool’s season. It wont be easy, but the prospect of Champions League football is at least achievable for King Kenny and his men.

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The Daily Mirror is reporting that Danny Graham and Billy Sharp are likely to be in demand in the summer and both players have had £2.5m price tags put on them. Graham and Sharp have both had fine seasons in the Championship scoring 24 Championship goals and 15 Championship goals respectably and their clubs will be keen to hold on to them.

At this time it is not known which clubs will be in for Graham – but it is expected there will be several interested parties in the Championships leading goal-scorer. Ipswich Town are believed to have shown an interest in Billy Sharp. Sharp has done well to score 15 league goals considering he has spent some time out injured. In fact he has managed to score those 15 goals in only 27 starts.

Ipswich’s interest is not a surprise – because they have been short of fire power this season with their top scoring being David Norris with 11 goals in all competitions. It is believed that Sharp is now looking to leave Doncaster after their disappointing performance in the league this season. If he does move on Doncaster are adamant that it won’t be for less than £2.5m – but Ipswich will not be the only interested party in the summer.

Like these rumours? Follow me on Twitter

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England head coach Fabio Capello has called up veteran Bolton Wanderers striker Kevin Davies to his squad for the European Championship qualifier against Montenegro a week on Tuesday.

Thirty-three-year-old Davies has long been touted as a possible England player, but his chances of a call-up seemed to have gone after he was ignored by several managers.

However, he may now get a chance to finally earn a first full cap, being named in the squad alongside Wayne Rooney and Arsenal starlet Jack Wilshere.

Capello is wary of the threat posed by the Montenegrins, saying:“I saw these two games that they played, they played very well and are a dangerous team.

“They defend well and are really compact, they play the counter-attack really, really fast. The quality of their forwards is really good.”

Squad: Ben Foster (Birmingham City), Robert Green (West Ham United), Joe Hart (Manchester City).

Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).

Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Joe Cole (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa).

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Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur), Kevin Davies (Bolton Wanderers), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

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Let’s play a quick ‘where are they now’ game together. Where does Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler ply his trade? How about World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro? Hernan Crespo? If you answered India (without using Wikipedia) then you’re correct.

Premier League Soccer (PLS) launches next month, and it has attracted veritable who’s who of late 90’s, early 2000’s stars. The league is looking to follow in the tradition of many other ‘new leagues’.

From Qatar, to Australia, to China, these new leagues seek to sign up big name older stars to boost the leagues profile. Sometimes it has flourished to the firm establishment of a solid league (J-league), other times it has been nothing more than a flash in the pan, marketing driven failure (NASL). Which way the PLS goes remains to be seen, however there is one thing complicating the issue for the PLS, the I-league.

You see India already has a top flight league, one that has been running since 2007, and is itself a ‘new league’. Theoretically there should be no conflict as the PLS is a regional league for the state of West Bengal.

However there are many complicating factors. Although the PLS may theoretically not be in conflict with the I-league, it is clear it is seeking to usurp the league, in profile and entertainment, if not at the actual top of the league structure.

The I-League has few big names stars (unless you count former Rangers striker Alan Gow) and in truth its TV and attendance figures are low. It will not be hard for PLS to beat these figures. These league’s schedules also overlap, with the PLS running February to April and the I-League October to May.

It is another small sign that the PLS organisers are not scared to face the I-League directly.

However this does not mean things for the PLS will necessarily be plain sailing. The PLS is based in the state of West Bengal, India’s footballing hotbed. This state is already home to India’s ‘Big 2’ East Bengal and Mohun Bagan.

This should mean the area is prime location for a Football extravaganza, however EB and MB both have a loyal fan-base and it remains to be seen to what degree these fans will embrace the new teams, especially when the schedules clash. India is also a nation of regions, and Indians themselves proudly regionalist. Will those from outside West Bengal tune in? Probably, but these will be TV viewers, and whether they will actively support or take to heart any of these teams seems less likely.

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The PLS will certainly be a show-piece, but long term, it seems it and the I-league will struggle to live alongside each other.

Yaya Toure scored the only goal as Manchester City won their first trophy for 35 years after deservedly overcoming Stoke City at Wembley.Roberto Mancini’s side went into the game as firm favourites against Stoke, who had never reached the final before, and it appeared they would regret failing to make the most of numerous first-half chances.

But Ivorian Toure, who scored the winner in City’s semi-final victory over local rivals Manchester United, blasted home when a loose ball fell to him with just 16 minutes left to give City the win that their performance merited.

Both managers fielded their strongest line-ups as Carlos Tevez came through a late fitness test for City, as did Matthew Etherington and Robert Huth for Tony Pulis’ Stoke.

And it was the favourites who started the stronger.

Tevez took just five minutes before he tested Thomas Sorensen in the Stoke goal with a low drive, with Ryan Shawcross was fortunate not to score an own goal as he deflected a low Aleksander Kolarov cross into the side netting.

It was all City in the opening half-hour as Toure fired a shot inches wide from 35 yards, before Sorensen produced a sensational save, somehow pushing Mario Balotelli’s curling effort past the far post when it appeared the Italian had surely scored from just inside the area.

Yet City should have taken the lead after 35 minutes.

Tevez started the move, playing the ball over the top for Balotelli to chase, and when the Italian was denied by Sorensen it seemed David Silva had to score, only for the Spaniard to volley the ball into the ground and watch in horror as it bounced over the unguarded net from just seven yards out.

It was a poor miss, and City must have wondered if they were going to regret their profligacy, especially when Silva failed to even have a shot at goal when Tevez played him through on goal early in the second-half.

Stoke were much improved, though, and City were indebted to Joe Hart for saving well when Kenwyne Jones had a shot from six yards out after chasing a long ball and getting the better of Joleon Lescott.

It appeared certain that the game was going to go into extra-time as neither side was able to make any real impression going forward as full-time drew near.

But with 16 minutes left, City made the breakthrough.

It was a scrappy goal in truth – not that City will mind – as Silva looked to combine with Tevez down the left.

When the ball was played into the box Balotelli’s effort hit Marc Wilson and fell perfectly for Toure to run on and smash a left-footed effort past Sorensen from eight yards.

The goal sparked scenes of wild celebration in the City end and appeared to knock the wind out of Stoke, who never looked likely to recover as Mancini’s men hung on to claim the first trophy of the Sheikh Mansour era.

The transfer of Joe Cole was one of the most speculated and talked about transfers of the summer, with a host of clubs being linked to the player. Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United all looked to be leading the pack of suitors at various times before Liverpool snapped him up in July. Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson has since revealed that he passed up the opportunity to sign Joe Cole, stating

“We were approached by his agent at one point but we didn’t enter into discussions at all. It was maybe just complicated to get involved with that.”

Ferguson obviously did not see enough in Cole to warrant signing him, but with Man Utd seemingly struggling with creativity this season, will it prove a missed opportunity for the United manager?

After signing from West Ham, Joe Cole had a great career at Chelsea, where he won numerous titles and cemented himself as an England regular. In his last couple of seasons at the club however, Cole suffered from injury problems and as a result did not get a great deal of first team football, although he did score a crucially important goal at Old Trafford in April 2010, in a victory that sealed the league title for Chelsea that season. Perhaps the injury problems Cole experienced was what dissuaded Ferguson from entering into discussions with him, but you imagine that if United had expressed a firm interest, Joe Cole would have jumped at the chance to join the Red Devils. Instead, it turned out to be Liverpool who signed Cole, and morale amongst their supporters and players skyrocketed when it was announced.

It is true that Cole has not enjoyed the greatest of starts to his Liverpool career. In his first team debut he was sent off against Arsenal for a rash challenge on Laurent Koscielny, and four days later he missed a penalty in a Europa League qualifier against Trabzonspor. Joe Cole’s quality is undoubted though, he is an excellent dribbler of the ball, he is creative, and he is capable of scoring goals. Perhaps the biggest string to his bow however, is his ability to change a game in a matter of moments, he is one of those rare players who can provide that little bit of magic that can completely turn the tide of a match.

For all Manchester United’s strengths, creativity seems to be the one area where they currently seem to be lacking a bit of quality, especially in the centre of the park. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are fantastically creative players, but Ferguson will not want to be relying on players in their mid thirties for this, and sooner or later they will retire. Darren Fletcher is an effective defensive midfielder, and is capable of the occassional great pass, but this is not his role. Michael Carrick seems to have completely lost form, whilst Darron Gibson is young and the jury is still firmly out on Anderson. It means that Scholes is the only consistently creative player of real quality who plays in the centre, and this is not a great situation to be in.

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On a free transfer, Joe Cole could have been the ideal solution to this problem area, and it would have given United a formidable midfield to feed Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov. Man Utd will hope to sort out their defensive difficulties when Rio Ferdinand returns to full fitness, but the lack of creativity they seem to have could be a recurring issue for the club, and Ferguson might just regret rejecting the chance to sign Cole come the end of the season.

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