Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has confirmed that John O’Shea has a blood clot on his calf, which could mean he would miss two months if it was aggravated.

He hasn’t been able to walk thanks to the injury he sustained in his country’s 2-1 win over Cyprus.


“He has blood on the muscle and it is up to the club to decide but I have told him to be careful because it is an area of the leg which makes it difficult to run and he could be out for two months,” said Trapattoni. “He and the club must decide. He could not walk today and he could not play in the game here tomorrow because he could not run.”

" Its Finally Here Lads "
Only 1 week to go !
Ive started a league " 1 BEST LEAGUE IN WORLD "
Come & join in, no password required.
@-----> http://championsfantasy.soccernet.espn.g.../start.jsp

With Chelsea, who were set to sign Sergio Aguero next summer (leaving it a year because he was no longer cup-tied in the champions league), suddenly given a year transfer ban, Aguero has been left in limbo.

Reports suggests that the Argentinian age wishes to leave Athletico next summer, and was poised to sign for Chelsea (same with Ribery, wh Chelsea had bidded £60m for) but now that they are out of the way, he might go for the next best chasers...United.

Man United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has challenged his players to hit 100 goals this season to show they don't need Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese winger, who joined Real Madrid for a world record £80 million this summer, hit 68 goals for United in the last two seasons.

Despite having much of that transfer fee available to spend Ferguson has yet to buy a direct replacement, with Antonio Valencia, Gabriel Obertan and Michael Owen the only newcomers to Old Trafford so far.

But the United boss is confident his side can overcome the loss of the former Sporting Lisbon man by spreading the goals across the team.

He said: "Obviously Cristiano is a big loss in terms of the goals he gave us. But we will just have to find the goals from somewhere else and our tactics will adjust accordingly.

"Usually you look to score about 100 goals in all competitions, so we are aiming for that again.

"I will be looking to Park, Nani, Valencia - even Welbeck and Macheda - to contribute 40 goals between them. The defenders will contribute a few from set-pieces, too."

So that's ten between those midfielders, plus the other midfielders goals, five each for Macheda and Welbeck, and the contribution from the defenders. That means Fergie wants the strikers to score about 60 goals.

Ryan Giggs will turn 36-years-old in a couple of months so it makes sense for him to be thinking about his future. His United playing career will likely draw to a close within the next couple of seasons and Giggs is planning to stay in football, although as yet is undecided as to what career path he wants to follow.


“Football is my life, but I’m not going to be playing at 40 - and I will look for another challenge within in the game,” said Giggs. “When my body tells me I can’t sustain playing at the highest level any more I know it will be time for me to call it a day. I want to finish playing at the top. I have no intention of playing in the lower leagues to sustain my playing career. I have done my coaching courses and would like to stay in the game in some capacity. I think there are numerous opportunities that will allow me to stay in the game, be it in coaching, the media or training in some capacity. I am told that you can inadvertently fall into management - like Mark Hughes and then you get bitten by the bug.”