Year: 2008

Darren Anderton calls it a day

Former Tottenham and England midfielder Darren Anderton has decided to retire after Bournemouth’s League Two game against Chester City on Saturday. Sicknote, as he was nicknamed for the numerous injuries that he sustained in his career, is best remembered for the twelve year spell he had at Tottenham Hotspur between 1992 and 2004. He has also played for Portsmouth, Birmingham City, and Wolverhampton Wanderers, clocking well over 400 appearances in a career spanning the best part of two decades.

Anderton is the last surviving member of the England team that lost on penalties to Germany in the semi finals of Euro 1996. He did not take a penalty in the shootout though.

Anderton is the last playing member of England's Euro'96 losing team
Anderton is the last playing member of England's Euro'96 losing team

In an interview to the Sun, Anderton also states that he rejected a move to Manchester United in 1995 despite having a clause in his contract at White Hart Lane that allowed him to do so.

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Klaas Jan Huntelaar to join Real Madrid in January

Some big transfer news ! And it is really big !!!

Real Madrid have announced that highly rated Ajax striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar will join them in January. Los Blancos will pay Ajax an initial €20m fee which could rise to €27m depending on his appearances and other clauses. When the deal does officially go through, Huntelaar will become the sixth Dutch player in the current Madrid team, with Arjen Robben, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van der Vaart and Royston Drenthe being the other four.

Huntelaar has already passed a medical, and should he agree to personal terms, will be at the Bernabeu till June 2013. The 25 year old will also be eligible to compete in the latter stages of Madrid’s Champions League campaign this season.

Heading to the Bernabeu- Klaas Jan Huntelaar ( Photo originally taken by postproduktie.nl)
Heading to the Bernabeu- Klaas Jan Huntelaar ( Photo originally taken by postproduktie.nl)

Huntelaar’s former club, SC Heerenveen, will also get some €2.5 million from the deal. Huntelaar had joined Ajax from Heerenveen for €9 million + incentives in 2005.

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Burnley 2-0 Arsenal- Carling Cup quarterfinal

Arsenal’s Carling Cup campaign came to an end on Tuesday night at Turf Moor when they were beaten 2-0 by a well organised Burnley side. Kevin McDonald scored both the goals for Burnley, who have now added Arsenal to Fulham and Chelsea in the list of London clubs they have knocked out of the Carling Cup this season. In the other quarterfinal, Derby stunned Stoke City at the Britannia stadium, with Nathan Ellington converting an injury time penalty after Andy Griffin had handled the ball in the Stoke box.

McDonald gave Burnley a shock lead in the 6th minute, after Lukas Fabianski failed to take control of Chris Eagles’ cross from the right. The ball fell to McDonald, who duly did the rest. McDonald doubled Burnley’s lead twelve minutes after half time, out muscling Mark Randall and firing past Fabianski from an Eagles throw in.

Arsenal’s youngsters, with an average age of 18.7 were excellent, but paid for their profligacy in front of goal. Danish stopper Brian Jensen, hero of the shoot out against Chelsea, also had an outstanding day in between the sticks, denying Nicklas Bendtner, Mark Randall and Carlos Vela to keep Burnley’s lead intact. Bendtner, starting ahead of Jay Simpson, had a frustrating night as he just could not get the ball into the Burnley net despite some wonderful attacking play from the Gunners. Wenger also gave Paul Rodgers his debut alongside Mikael Silvestre in defence.

The Carling dream is over for Arsenal's youngsters
The Carling dream is over for Arsenal's youngsters

Arsenal were clinical in the way they had dumped Wigan and Sheffield United out, but Burnley away was always going to be a tough test. Owen Coyle got his tactics right, and Burnley were deserving winners at the end of the night.

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