The Moldovan Prodigy That Isn’t, ESPN After Premier League TV Rights, Howard Webb Is Wolves’ 12th Man, and more

My sincerest apologies to Arsenal fans who were looking forward to a future that included the ‘Molodvan Magician’ Masal Bugduv, because you, like many others, have been had. Even the media’s big boys can get taken along for a ride, which is karma’s way of making them pay for trying to do the same to many of us on a daily basis.

I’d like to buy a night’s worth of pints for Fredo for doing his research, and I’d also like to do the same for the person who came up with this little hoax, because if you can get the big papers going, you deserve it.

What’s even funnier to me is that the Times thought they could cover up their mistake without us noticing. Shame, shame, shame.

It’s a shame though, because we’re always looking for that next Anatoli Todorov, Kennedy Bakircioglu, or Tonton Zola Moukoko to take our Football Manager side over the top.

While Masal Bugduv won’t be coming to Arsenal anytime soon, will Andrei Arshavin be coming to the Emirates in January? If he does, his own funds could help broker the deal. If I recall correctly, Nery Castillo did that to push through his loan move from Shakhtar Donetsk to Manchester City last year.

Of course, the biggest transfer news story continues to be Manchester City’s pursuit of Kaka. It’s off, it’s on, it’s off, it’s on. Stay tuned, because I’m sure there’ll be another turn by this time tomorrow.

Carlos Tevez has gotten his big chance to prove that he’s worthy of getting his permanent deal at Manchester United, with Wayne Rooney out for three to four weeks with a hamstring injury. How much of a loss will he be?

Looks like the self-proclaimed ‘worldwide leader’ (also known as ESPN) is trying to get their hands on some Premier League TV coverage. I like the coverage that Fox Soccer Channel provides, and I’d like to hope they would still continue showing matches regularly even if ESPN jumps into the fray. The big question for American soccer fans is whether or not ESPN would do the majority of their broadcasts on ESPN/ESPN2 or if they’d create a special soccer-focused network, and from there, announcers, ratio of live matches to tape-delayed, and how much programming time would be dedicated to things like highlight shows and the like.

After Tottenham supporters peppered Sol Campbell with homophobic and racist abuse in September’s match at Fratton Park, the club is taking some necessary measures ahead of Sunday’s return match at White Hart Lane. It’s a good move by Tottenham to do this, and hopefully the fans will make use of it. More than that, any fans who come to the match intent on repeating such behavior need to think twice, after the arrests that were made following the first incident. But hey, if you want to call him Judas, feel free.

That Howard Webb is no stranger to controversy, is he? So how does that get marked down on the scoresheet? Does he get credit for an assist? Which is better, Webb or American football referee Wilbur Hackett, Jr.?

Webb is one of dozens (or is it hundreds or thousands by now?) who have been on the receiving end of comments from Sir Alex Ferguson, who has won almost as many psychological battles as he has trophies.

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