Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake thinks his side can avoid Premier League relegation and the dreaded second season syndrome.

A lot of clubs since the inception of the Premier League have had a downturn in fortunes during their second season in the top flight, most recently Reading, and Wolves boss Mick McCarthy will want his side to go in the right direction this season. The Premier League betting suggests they could go down, but there are a lot of bad teams around.

Last season’s 15th placed finish was seen as success for Wolves and now the side will be looking to climb the table rather than be embroiled in a relegation dogfight in the coming campaign.

McCartyh has spent money this summer improving his squad by bringing in Jelle van Damme, Steven Mouyokolo and Stephen Hunt together with spending £7 million on Steven Fletcher.

He impressed during his first season in the English top flight, getting 12 goals as he attempted to help Burnley avoid the drop and Ebanks-Blake, now a rival for a striking spot, has said the new signing is “a good player”.
Ebanks-Blake told BBC West Midlands there are clear objectives for Wolves this season, and goals will be needed as they struggled last campaign getting only 13 goals at home.

“We didn’t do badly last year – we stayed in the league, finished in a respectable position, and we played some good football at times and turned some teams over,” the forward said.

“All we want to do this year is stay in the league and build on what we did last year.”

The online football odds suggest they have a chance of doing that, but it will be a tough fight.

Scottish striker Fletcher told the Express and Star earlier this week that he was “looking forward” to the coming season and Wolves should have enough to avoid Premier League relegation as they have some “great talent” among the squad.

David Moyes thinks Everton can push on from the Premier League top eight thanks to the benefit of a focused Mikel Arteta.

The Scottish manager was overjoyed when his Spanish playmaker signed a new five-year deal at Goodison Park last weekend.

Arteta originally joined Everton on loan from Real Sociedad in January 2005 and Moyes then made that deal permanent during the following summer for £2 million – which in recent seasons has looked an absolute bargain as his consistent impressive displays have seen him linked with the likes of Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester City.

Moyes has told the Liverpool Echo it is “nice to get rid of the speculation” surrounding Arteta and how he wants to midfielder to provide the inspiration for Everton to get into the Premier League top eight this season and bring European qualification to Goodison Park. However, the Premier League 2010/11 odds suggest they will need to dig deep to make an impact on the league.

“Hopefully his focus will be a bit better now. He has been a little mixed up in recent weeks with different things. He got married and there’s been the stuff about his contract,” the manager said.

“But now we can start getting him focused and get the proper Mikel back.”

Moyes has also issued an ultimatum to his Premier League rivals by stating that Everton have no need to sell any of their stars has the club does not “need money”. Still, the FA Cup odds suggest they could go on a run in that competition and the revenue would no doubt be well received.

Everton start their Premier League campaign with a trip to Blackburn Rovers on August 14th and Moyes will be looking for his side to make a much better start to this season than their 6-1 opening day loss to Arsenal 12 months ago.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is confident that his side will be ready for the start of the season as they look to defend the Premier League title they won back in May.

The Blues had a fantastic season last time out, winning their first-ever league and cup double, but have had a patchy pre-season losing to both Ajax and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Chelsea have only just welcomed back a number of their big stars who played in the World Cup – meaning Ancelotti only has a week to prepare these footballers before the Blues face Manchester United in the Community Shield at Wembley next weekend.

The goalkeeping situation is going to be a big worry for Ancelotti as number one Petr Cech is struggling with a calf injury.

In the 3-1 defeat to Ajax, reserve goalkeeper Ross Turnbull failed to cover himself in glory with a number of howlers so the Italian manager gave Hilario a full 90-minute run out against Frankfurt, results that upset the online betting.

The loss of Cech for either the Community Shield or opening weeks of the Premier League would be a big blow to Chelsea, but their managed is keeping his fingers crossed his number one will win his race against time to return.

Speaking to the club’s website, the manager said: “We have some problems with the goalkeepers but it can happen in these moments of the season.

“Now we have to maintain these keepers and we hope Petr Cech can recover well before the start of the season.”

According to the Premier League 2010/11 odds, the Blues are set to retain their title but they could struggle without a good keeper.

The manager is also working hard to ensure he does not lost left back Ashley Cole before the Premier League title battle gets underway in a fortnight’s time.

There have been reports the England man wants to move abroad, with Real Madrid his most likely destination, but Ancelotti has stated Cole is now a Chelsea man and “will remain” at Stamford Bridge.

Following his spell as Ivory Coast manager for the 2010 World Cup, it has been revealed that Sven-Goran Eriksson believes he has “unfinished business” in the Premier League.

The former England boss is now the front runner for the vacant Fulham manager’s position following Martin Jol’s decision to remain at Ajax and it is clearly a role he would be interested in.

Eriksson’s agent has spoken about the situation and admitted that he has “known for some weeks Sven’s one of the managers under consideration”. However, there has been “no contact whatsoever” from Fulham at this stage.

This will probably change very soon if Eriksson is the next man on Fulham’s list. They were extremely keen on securing Jol and would have worked tirelessly on that, but now they can move on to other targets. Betsplayer.com will keep you up to date with their next move.

The Swede has been involved at club level in England twice before of course, for Notts County and Manchester City. Neither of these spells finished particularly well though, so he will want to prove a few people wrong about his ability to be successful.

The dismissal from Manchester City was particularly painful for Eriksson, with his agent claiming that he was “outrageously sacked from his position” after doing a “first-class job” at Eastlands.

All of this is in the past though and as always with Eriksson, he will be looking ahead to the next challenge in his managerial career. Whether that turns out to be Fulham, remains to be seen.

Jamie Carragher is fit and ready to step into the breach and help to rebuild England’s World Cup ambitions after their opening draw, according to the player.

A goalkeeping howler by Robert Green meant an uninspired England could only draw their opening Group C game 1-1 with the USA, and Carragher was forced to come on in place of Ledley King at half-time after the Spurs player injured his groin.

Carragher had a disappointing domestic season as his Liverpool side missed out on the Premier League top four and the defender returned from international retirement before the 2010 Football World Cup at the request of manager Fabio Capello.

It now seems that the Italian will pick the Liverpool man to play alongside John Terry at the heart of the England defence in their next game against Algeria.

Carragher has said he is confident himself and Terry can form a strong defensive partnership if they are “given the opportunity”, adding he is sure due to the “ability” both the players have.

The defender stated that he remained assured that England can have a successful World Cup despite their inauspicious start to the tournament.

“A lot of experienced players in the squad have been to World Cups before,” Carragher said.

“I don’t think the squad has changed that much from four years ago. Hopefully [we can] build on the experience from then and go one better.”

The World Cup 2010 betting still makes England among the favourites for the tournament.

In addition to the centre back issues, Capello also has to make a decision on his goalkeeper after Green’s mistake in their opening game and one of those options is David James.

The veteran goalkeeper was overlooked for the USA game but has declared he is “fit and well” and wants to start the clash with Algeria if Capello decides to drop Green.

Everyone connected with English football knows that there has always been a huge expectation on the national team. However, Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba has revealed that the massive pressure his team are under from their adoring fans.

The Chelsea man – who hopes to play some part in the World Cup finals despite breaking his arm on Friday – says that the expectation back home in Ivory Coast is ‘higher than England’.

This is partly because the Ivory Coast fans always expected a decent standard, but mainly because it has been concluded that the current squad of players is the most talented the country has ever had.

As Drogba says, he and most of his team mates ‘play for big teams and have won things’ but have never done so with their county. Basically, it is about time they did so and therefore, nothing other than winning the World Cup will do.

Spain World cup betting  odds may suggest they are the favourites, but the Ivory Coast public won’t want to pay attention to this.

If sufficient success is to be achieved though, much depends on the fitness of Drogba. Therefore, it is good news that after it was feared he would miss the entire tournament, he now has an outside chance of playing the first game.

There won’t just be weight on the player’s shoulders either – there manager Sven Goran Eriksson will be feeling it to. So what does Drogba make of his boss?

Well, he says that the former England head coach is ‘one of the best managers on the market’ and that his experience can be used ‘to beat one or two big teams at the World Cup’.

They will need to do just that to progress from the toughest group of the tournament too. Brazil and Portugal World Cup Betting pundits will expect their respective nations to progress and Ivory Coast will have to defeat at least one of them.

A victory over Portugal in their opening game on Tuesday would certainly help them settle into matching their country’s expectations.

He’s keeping the players and the fans guessing but according to England manager Fabio Capello he already knows who will start the side’s opening group game against the USA.

Since taking charge of the Three Lions, the Italian has gained a reputation for playing his cards close to his chest. The days of team sheets being released to the media well ahead of kick off are gone and it seems Capello is taking the same approach to the World Cup.

Speaking to Radio Five Live, he revealed the first XI has already been picked for the game, although he is aware that injuries could force him to change his plans.

He said: “I know the 11 that will play Saturday and I hope the next two days, during the training, all the players will be fit.”

The side’s preparations were dealt a cruel blow just hours after they arrived in South Africa when Rio Ferdinand injured his knee. James Milner and Matthew Upson have also been suffering from a fever, so there’s no guarantee that Capello will be able to field the players he wants. Indeed, the problems in the camp seem to have led to England’s World Cup odds lengthening.

However, the manager is also satisfied with the progress England have made during his time in charge, claiming that “they’ve improved a lot” since his first game in charge back in February 2008.

For now Capello, the players and the fans will just have to pray that England’s World Cup injury curse doesn’t strike again and they are able to field a full-strength side against a USA team who will be no pushovers.

Furthermore, anyone with a betting system will be aware that England have a poor record at the start of tournaments.

It should be remembered that no side has ever gone on to win the World Cup after losing their first group game, so the Three Lions really do need to get off to a flyer.

As the world cup approaches most the Arsenal news are slowing down. I do not expect much action on the transfer front until after the tournament, but I promise to give you the latest updates in all matter concerning Arsenal.

 Philippe Senderos has officially agreed a 3 year deal with Fulham. To be quite honest I liked the man. He seemed to be a very intelligent and also very humble (which is rare these days) so I wish him all the best with Fulham. He has all my respect and I will applaud him when he returns to the Emirates. The competition was just too fierce for him at Arsenal, and I don’t even think he was offered a new deal by Wenger.

 We are being linked with every single midfielder in the world at the moment, and to be quite honest I am getting tired of it. Werder Bremens whiz kid Mesut Özil is the latest player on the list, and reports suggest that Arsenal are preparing a £12m offer. The Joe Cole rumors won’t die down and he could be on his way to Arsenal. My question here is, if Cole does sign for us, who is heading out? We have way too many midfielders to our disposal at this point, and I cannot really see where Cole would fit into our current lineup. I do rate him as a player, but this signing makes little sense. We need defenders, not more injury prone midfielders.

 At this point I just want some action. Do you hear that Wenger? Give us fans some action and make your first signings. You told us at the end of the season that your dealings would be done before the World cup. We are less then 48 hours away and we have seen nothing…

Have a good night Gooners!!

PS. If you have any suggestions on topics you would like me to cover, feel free to shoot me a comment and I’ll do my best.

by Simon Sparrowhawk

Get ready to breathe a huge sigh of relief Manchester United fans, because Real Madrid are not going to try and take Wayne Rooney to Spain, yet.

After months of speculation surrounding a possible bid for England and United’s star striker it has finally been confirmed that Real will not make a move for Rooney this summer. Despite, Jose Mourinho being a huge admirer of the former Everton hitman, it seems the price is too steep now.

Florentino Perez told the gathered media yesterday that the Bernabeu club will not move for Rooney or Barcelona’s Lionel Messi before the new season, but that may not end the speculation.

However, the Real Madrid president was not so clear on potential offers for Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, Arsneal’s Cesc Fabregas and Chelsea pair Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard. It seems that at least one, and possibly more, of these will be playing in the white of Madrid in August.

There are fresh rumours this morning of a £32m bid from Madrid for Liverpool captain Gerrard. If true, then it’s a sign of real intent on behalf of the La Liga runners-up.

It seems that United can plan for the future with Wayne Rooney but the future is less certain for the rest of the Premier League big boys.

It has been quite today on the transfer front, as we are still waiting for new signings. According to himself, Wenger is not afraid to splash cash this summer on his defense. The Frenchman has been quoted saying “The basic improvements that have to be made is defensive and with spending the right money, But what I mean by the right money is that we will not be scared to spend if needed.”

 Senderos is today being linked to Fulham and could sign for the cottagers after the World Cup. Senderos is available on a free transfer, so I doubt he will sign anywhere before the tournament starts. After all a good couple of games this summer could boost his value and maybe give him a more lucrative deal.

 Serbian Winger Milos Krasic that has caught the attention of Wenger these past few weeks looks to be on his way to Serie A and Juventus. In an interview with Sportal, Krasic has made it pretty clear where he wants to play. “CSKA have established a price. We will see what happens, but I believe that there won’t be any problems and that everything will be resolved positively so I can play for Juventus.” I guess that puts that rumor to bed that he was on his way to Arsenal..

Several sources are today saying that Yaya Toure could be used as bait in the potential Fabregas deal. His Agent Dimitri Seluk is saying that Toure is interested in joining Arsenal. This is a funny one to me, hence only a week ago Toure’s agent clamied that his client was not interested in a move to north London. We will have to wait and see with this one, if we could get something like 40 – 50mm quid plus Toure, I’m all for it. Anything less than that, tell barca to get lost!

Some news from the French World Cup camp is claiming that Gallas will not speak to the media for the duration of the world cup. It seems as if William likes to give people the ice box treatment. William is also apparently upset that the captain’s armband has been given to Patrice Evra, and not himself. I think Gallas should grow up and stop behaving like a 5 year old. I mean communication is key when you are a captain no?