Who are the all-time top goalscorers in the Premier League? Which Premier League players have scored 100 goals or more? Who has scored the most goals in each Premier League season? And who is the top Premier League scorer this season?

Below we’ve answered all of the above questions – all players in the Premier League 100 club, the golden boot winners from previous Premier League seasons and the goalscoring charts from the most recent (2011/2012) Premier League season.

The top five Premier League goal scorers get their own little write up and a link to video of their goals. Everyone outside of that gets just their name, the clubs they played and scored for (or club, in the case of Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Matt LeTissier) and, of course, their total number of Premier League goals.

You can also jump directly to the Premier League Golden Boot winners and Most Premier League goals this season sections.

All Time Premier League Top GoalScorers

	ALAN SHEARER	260 EPL GOALS
	Blackburn (1992-1996), Newcastle (1996-2006)

Alan Shearer, OBE, was born on 13th August 1970. Having started his career at Southampton, he went on to become one of the most prolific scorers of all time with Blackburn and his beloved Newcastle.

Great in the air, predatory from close range and deadly from distance, Shearer was at one time the complete striker. A series of knee injuries robbed him of some pace, but Shearer adapted his game in his later years and continued to find the net.

After the first ten years of the Premier League, Shearer was named as the outstanding player of the decade. He is also listed in the FIFA 100 greatest living footballers.

Shearer played 63 times for England, scoring 30 goals. He captained the side on 34 occasions.

Now working as a pundit on BBC television’s Match of the Day, Shearer had a brief spell as Newcastle United manager in 2008/9, when he took charge for the last eight games but was unable to save the club from relegation.

Alan Shearer GOALS

	ANDY COLE	187 EPL GOALS
	Newcastle (1993-95), Manchester Utd (1995-2001), Blackburn (2001-04), Fulham (2004-05), Man City (2005-06), Portsmouth (2006-07), Birmingham (2007), Sunderland (2007-08)

Andy Cole, or Andrew Cole, as he now prefers to be called was born on 15th October 1971. He began his career with Arsenal, but played just one game before moving to Bristol City. His goal scoring exploits for The Robins caught the attention of Kevin Keegan at Newcastle, who signed the striker in 1993. Cole partnered Peter Beardsley, won the First Division and continued scoring in the Premier League for he following two seasons.

He was sold controversially to Manchester United in 1995, where he went on to achieve huge success. He was the top scorer in Europe for United in the treble winning season of 1998-99, a season in which he and Dwight Yorke contributed 53 goals between them overall. Cole scored the goal that won the Premier League title, and the goal that took them to the Champions League final. He has five Premier League winners medals, one Champions League winners medal and two FA Cup winners medals.

Since leaving United Cole has played at Blackburn, Fulham, Mancheser City, Portsmouth, Birmingham and Sunderland, without quite recapturing his best goal scoring form. Cole finished his career with a loan move to Burnley and a brief spell at Nottingham Forest before retiring in 2008.

Cole was awarded the PFA Young player of the year award in 1994, and played 15 games for Engand, scoring just one goal.

Andy Cole GOALS

	THIERRY HENRY	176 EPL GOALS
	Arsenal (1999-2007), Arsenal (2012)

Thierry Henry was born on 17th August 1977. He moved to Arsenal after a relatively successful career in France and Italy, but was regarded by many as an overrated wide player. Arsene Wenger converted Henry to be a striker and the rest, as they say, is history. Pacy, classy, goalscoring history.

Henry’s goals won the Premier League twice for Arsenal, including the 30 league goals he scored as Arsenal’s famous Invincibles went the entire 2003/4 season unbeaten. Henry was twice awarded the PFA Players Player of the Year award, and also won the Football Writers Player of the Year award on two occasions.

For France, Henry scored 51 goals in 123 appearances and has World Cup and European Championship winners medals.

Henry left Arsenal for Barcelona in 2007, where he won La Liga, the Champions League, Copa Del Rey and the Club World Cup. He currently plays for New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer. Henry made an emotional loan return to Arsenal in January 2012, playing for 7 weeks and scoring a few crucial goals, including 2 in the league.

Thierry Henry GOALS

	ROBBIE FOWLER	163 EPL GOALS
	Liverpool (1993-2001), Leeds Utd (2001-03), Manchester City (2003-06), Liverpool (2006-07), Blackburn (2008)

Robbie Fowler was born on 9th April 1975. He grew up in Toxteth, a rough area of Liverpool, and went on to become one of the best players ever to represent the Reds. In 1995 and 1996 he was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

Renowned for his natural finishing ability, in 1994 Fowler scored three times in 4 minutes, 33 seconds against Arsenal, still the fastest hat-trick in Premier League history. His goal scoring exploits were always matched by the controversy surrounding him. He was particularly criticised when after scoring a goal he pretended to snort the paint from the six yard line, following rumours of a cocaine addiction. Presenting his backside to Graeme Le Saux, rumoured to be gay, was also an episode that Fowler should not be proud of.

Fowler left Liverpool for Leeds United and then Manchester City, but was back at Anfield for one more year in 2006/7. Fowler went on to play for Cardiff City and Blackburn Rovers before moving to Australia in 2009, where he played a season for North Queensland Fury before moving to current club Perth Glory.

Fowler played 26 times for England scoring 7 goals.

Robbie Fowler GOALS

	LES FERDINAND	149 EPL GOALS
	Queens Park Rangers (1992-95), Newcastle (1995-97), Tottenham (1997-2003), West Ham (2002-03), Leicester (2003-04), Bolton (2004-05)

Les Ferdinand, MBE, was born on 8th December 1966. He began his career scoring goals galore for lower league Hayes, and continued to do so wherever he went. His first big move was to top flight Queens Park Rangers, where he spent eight years banging in goals from 1987 to 1995 before earning a high profile move to Newcastle United. On Tyneside, Ferdinand developed a frightening strike partnership with Alan Shearer.

Like Shearer, Ferdinand was the complete package. Fast, strong, deadly in front of goal, and absolutely unbeatable in the air. After two years at Newcastle he moved on to Tottenham, where he spent six successful years before playing for West Ham, Leicester, Bolton and Reading.

Ferdinand was awarded the PFA players player award in 1996 and scored 5 goals for England gaining 17 caps.

Les Ferdinand GOALS

	MICHAEL OWEN	149 EPL GOALS
	Liverpool (1996-2004), Newcastle (2005-09), Man United (2009-12)

Michael James Owen was born on 14th December, 1979 in Chester, England. He is the son of a former forward of the 1970s, Terry Owen.

Michael Owen began his youth career in Liverpool in 1991. He progressed through the ranks and on his debut with the senior team in 1997, he scored. In his first full season in the English Premier League, he finished the season as the joint top-scorer with 18 goals.

Liverpool won a cup treble of the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and the Football League Cup and Owen was awarded the Ballon d’Or. He went on to score 118 goals for the Reds in the Premier League.

In 2004, Owen moved to Real Madrid and was frequently used as a substitute. The following season, he returned to England to Newcastle United with the highest goals scored to number of minutes played ration in Spain.

He scored another 26 Premier League goals for Newcastle until he was picked up as a back-up striker by Alex Ferguson. To this day, he plays for Manchester United.

Michael Owen GOALS

Rest of the EPL 100 Club

2011-12 Premier League Topscorers

Golden Boot winners

The following table is a list of winners of the Premier League Golden Boot per season, detailing their club, goal tally, actual games played, and their strike rate (goals/games).

Key to symbols:

      ^† – denotes the award was shared that season
      ^C – denotes the club were also League Champions that season
      ^E – denotes the player also won the European Golden Shoe that season
      (x) – denotes multiple winners of the award and their running total
 

 
NOTE #1: Teddy Sheringham scored his first goal of the 1992–93 season as a Nottingham Forest player, while the remainder were scored for Tottenham Hotspur following his transfer in August 1992.
NOTE #2: From the 1995–96 season onwards, the Premier League was reduced from 22 teams to 20, reducing the number of games in a league season from 42 to 38.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

On the back of a successful season that saw them achieve their highest ever Premier League finish, West Brom have reduced ticket prices in a bid to help the local community afford to watch live football matches and to encourage families and young fans to attend more games.

West Bromwich Albion have reduced all adult season tickets by £50 and knocked up to £70 off the cost of seats for youngsters. This is especially impressive considering that other clubs with outstanding seasons have all looked to increase ticket prices across the board. Man City, Reading, Swansea, Fulham and Norwich are all clubs that have hiked prices to either match demand or to bring ticket prices in line with ‘Premier League pricing’.

And unlike a few other Premier League clubs, Albion has little local pressure to drop prices. WBA’s 23,622 home allocation was 96% fully subscribed last season, and with the season ticket price cuts and the club on a stable footing in the league, WBA is likely to attract more fans now, especially from a younger generation.

In fact the club is mindful of the fact that they have a responsibility to help people in an area that has been particularly hard hit economically, and to also capitalise on their Premier League status by reaching out to local fans and making up for lost time when, in their words, a generation of supporters was lost.

Mike Jenkins, the Albion chief executive:

“I think our season-ticket prices for this season were already very competitive given our location and the size of the stadium, particularly when you look at our rivals, but we felt that we could still do more in the current climate.

There’s no doubt that youth unemployment is a very big issue at present. I’m a parent and I know full well that for teenagers and those in their early twenties even finding part-time employment is tough, never mind a full-time job. As a result we’ve really tried to focus on them and to focus on juniors too. In many ways that is the single biggest motivation behind our pricing strategy – to secure the next generation of fans.

Having talked with the consultation group, to season-ticket holders and supporters, it’s clear we lost a large number of a whole generation of fans between 1986 and 2002, primarily because we were out of the top division and struggling in that period but also because there were very harsh economic times in this area. If you look at the make-up of our crowd, there is definitely a weighting towards people from around 40 and older, and that reflects that period in time when we failed to attract as many new fans as we should have.”

West Brom Ticket Prices for 2012/2013

Albion have taken the unprecedented step of cutting season tickets by big margins, with the exception of the over-60s category where prices are frozen. All adult season tickets are down by £50, the Under-18 discount has been extended to Under-21s, where prices are reduced by up to £70, and the Under-16 discount has been extended to Under-17s, where prices are reduced by up to £30. Mark Jenkins, Albion’s chief executive, said: “We are hopeful this will lead to more young fans and families attending our home matches.”

Figures in full: Season-ticket prices reduced 11.3% for adults, frozen for over 60s, reduced 17.6% for U21s/U18s, reduced 14.98% for U17s/U16s renewing before 1 June (adults £349-£449, Over 60s £269-£329, U21s £199-£299, U17s £99-£139). Matchday prices: tbc.

Source: Guardian.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Chelsea winning the Champions League will see the other English Champions League qualifiers lose a few million pounds each from UEFA’s pot of TV money going to the Premier League.

While this is a small part of the overall Champions League revenue split (explained in detail here for 2010/2011), it represents a loss nevertheless.

As part of the financial benefits of participating in the Champions League, each league’s clubs get a a share of UEFA’s TV money profits depending on their UEFA coefficient rankings. The Premier League were due £30m from the market pool pot, which would have been split according to the teams’ league standings.

Normally, as domestic champions Manchester City would get 40% of Uefa’s “market pool” pot of TV money totalling around £12m, the second-placed Manchester United 30% (£9m), the third-placed Arsenal 20% (£6m) and the fourth-placed club 10% (£3m).

Instead, with Chelsea winning the Champions League and qualifying as winners, they are now ‘tied’ with City in terms of TV revenue share. As such, City and Chelsea will each receive 30% (£9m), United 25% (£7.5m) and Arsenal 15% (£4.5m.). Uefa have said the figures would be confirmed by its executive meeting in July.

To put these numbers into perspective – each team gets a basic fee – £3.5m in 2010/2011 – for qualifying for the group stages each season, and the profits from qualifying for the knockout rounds and progressing further in the Champions League can mean a £20m difference.

The actual reduction in earnings will be loose change for the three Premier League clubs. Far more importantly, Chelsea’s bumper Champions League earnings will paper over the loss of earnings from finishing 6th in the league and continued Champions League participation will mean that they have another £20m-£25m to expect as a minimum next season.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Despite leading Chelsea to Champions League glory on Saturday it appears Didier Drogba has played his last game for the club.

France Football magazine has reported that the Ivory Coast star has confirmed he is leaving Stamford Bridge.

The striker has been quoted saying he informed his team-mates of his decision during the club’s open-top bus parade on Monday after leading them to the greatest moment in their history on Saturday night.

“We will no longer be together next season,” the 34-year-old said in quotes attributed to the magazine.

Drogba, who has reportedly already agreed a deal to join Shanghai Shenhua when his Chelsea contract expires this summer, is said to have admitted he struggled to get the words out and burst into tears.

He went on to say: “As I decided to leave, I wanted to tell them straight in the eye. Except that I could not do it. They made me crack.”

“Even though it’s been three years since I said I wanted to leave, I find it hard to admit that it’s over with this club – especially as I did not feel like this.”

“But I could not see myself sitting on the bench to watch others play when the club plans to set up a new team.”

“So that’s it – I am preparing for my leap into the unknown. It’s going to be another adventure.”

Man-of-the-match in Saturday’s historic Champions League final win over Bayern Munich, Drogba has repeatedly avoided questions about his future.

The 34-year-old has been linked with a lucrative move to Chinese club Shanghai Shenhuan, where his former Chelsea team-mate Nicolas Anelka is player coach.

If he does leave it would mean his very last kick for Chelsea would be the penalty that gave his side victory against Bayern.

For their part, Chelsea have refused to offer the two-year contract Drogba was looking for 

This news coincides with Fernando Torres announcing he’s also considering leaving the London club.

The Spanish International will hold talks with the club about his future after criticising the way he has been treated.

Torres admitted it was one of the biggest disappointments of his career to start on the bench in the Champions League final win over Bayern Munich.

Torres told Spanish journalist Guillem Balague:  ”I have been through the worst moments of my career during the season.

“I felt they have treated me in a way I was not expecting.”

The striker, signed from Liverpool for £50m in January 2011, has hit six league goals this season as part of a total of 11 in all competitions.

“It was a huge disappointment when I saw the line-up, perhaps the biggest disappointment in my life. I thought I would play in this game and I couldn’t imagine not doing so.”

Discussing his future, he added: “We’ve had a lot of talks and we’ll talk about my future at the end of the season because the role I’ve had this season is not for me, nor is it the one I expected to play when I came here.

There’s now huge uncertainty regarding the future of Chelsea’s two frontmen. If they were to leave, Daniel Sturridge would become the only established striker left at the club. Surely this means Abramovich intends to invest in a couple of attacking players this summer. Following Chelsea’s European success, the funds will definitely be available to do this.

Despite this, the next big question is: Where next for Drogba? Will he move to Asia for his own economic benefit? Or stay in Europe to challenge Chelsea in next year’s Champions League? There’s no doubt wherever he ends up, he will be playing first team football as a key member of the squad.

Follow me on twitter for football updates and opinions: https://twitter.com/#!/Chrisslinnell

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Another Premier League season has come to an end. For serious punters, the football season can be a grind. An enjoyable grind but a grind nonetheless. A perpetual routine of updating spreadsheets, adjusting ratings, pricing up match after match coupled with the somewhat schizoid experience of one week begging for heaven that a particular club wins only to find yourself hurling equal hope that they lose the next.

So with the season now concluded, it’s time to take a look back and see which clubs were those to bet on and which clubs were those to bet against in season 2011/2012. Since the odds for a given football match represent the expected probable outcome, doing such a post-season analysis is a good way of assessing which clubs performed over and above expectations and which clubs sunk below over the full duration of the season.

Obviously an article such as this, a betting retrospective, would have been of far more value about nine months ago. Regardless, let’s do a little reverse-crystal-balling and hand out the Premier League Betting Awards for 2011/2012.

(Even Stakes? You’ll often see me refer to ‘even stakes’ throughout this article. Those unfamiliar with conventional betting terminology might find it a little puzzling, so here’s a quick explanation. To bet at ‘even stakes’ simply means to bet the same amount on each bet. You can imagine it as betting £1 on each bet. So for example, when I say that betting on Arsenal to win in each of their 38 matches in season 2011/2012 would have returned you a profit of 5 units at even stakes, it means that had you bet £1 on Arsenal to win in each of their 38 matches in 2011/2012, you would have made an overall profit of £5.)

Best Teams to Back to Win

The chart below shows the profitability of each club when backed to win across the course of the season at even stakes.

The Green : The clubs in green are those that recorded an even stakes profit at both home and away over the course of the season. In this camp there were just three clubs in 2011/2012 – Newcastle, Manchester United and Arsenal. As might be expected from their more or less unexpected form, Newcastle record the most consistent profits for punters this season. At home they were 6 units above break even while away from home they collected an even stakes profit of almost 10 units.

The Blue : The clubs in blue were clubs that recorded even stakes profits at home in 2011/2012 while recording a loss away from home. Seven clubs featured in this category – QPR, Manchester City, Tottenham, Sunderland, Fulham, Everton and Swansea. It was QPR that recorded the most erratic form of this group, collecting almost 11 units of profit at even stakes at home while delivering a loss of just over 3 units when visitors.

The Red : The clubs in red were clubs that recorded an overall even stakes profit in away matches this season while delivering an overall loss in home matches. Six clubs featured in this group – Wigan, West Brom, Norwich, Blackburn, Bolton and Liverpool. It was Wigan that displayed the most skewed performance of the season, giving punters a tremendous return of over 20 units profit at even stakes when on the road and giving a slight loss when at home in season 2011/2012.

The Black : The clubs in black were clubs that gave punters nightmares in 2011/2012, recording both a loss at home and on the road. Four clubs feature in this group – Aston Villa, Chelsea, Stoke and Wolverhampton. It was Wolves who were, as we might have expected, the worst team of the season to back to win, giving punters a loss of over 12 units at even stakes at home while not doing much better away from home, returning a loss of just over 11 units. Had you backed them to win at even stakes for the entire 38 match campaign, they would have sunk you over 23 units.

Best Teams to Bet Against

Let’s now look at which clubs were the best to back against. The chart below shows the profitability of each club had you bet on their opponents to win in each match at even stakes across the course of season 2011/2012.

The Green : The clubs in green were those that had you backed their opponents to win, would have given you a profit in both home and away matches over the course of this season. Three clubs feature in this group – Liverpool, QPR and Chelsea. It’s perhaps no surprise to see Liverpool far and away the best club to bet against this season. With their home and away form combined, had you bet on their opponents this season at even stakes, you would have walked away with a profit over their 38 matches of 24 units.

The Blue : The clubs in blue were those who while playing at home gave backers of their opponents a profit over the course of the season while delivering a loss to such sceptics away from home. Seven clubs featured in this group – Aston Villa, Everton, Manchester United, West Brom, Bolton, Blackburn and Wolverhampton. Aston Villa were perhaps the surprise of the group. Backing the visitors in Villa home matches this season would have seen you collect an even stakes profit of just over 3 units while betting against Villa away from home would have seen you in the hole over 10 units.

The Red : The clubs displayed in red were those that were great to bet against away from home in 2011/2012 but not so good to bet against when playing at home. Five clubs feature in this group – Manchester City, Fulham, Sunderland, Stoke and Arsenal. The clear outlier here was Manchester City as betting on their opponents to win in City home matches this season would have seen you go under on each occasion, suffering a 100% loss of 19 units. In City away matches however, betting on their opponents would have seen you clear a profit at even stakes of just over 3 units.

The Black : These clubs were those that you didn’t want to find yourself betting against in 2011/2012. Doing so would have seen you take a loss in both home and away matches over the duration of the season. Five clubs feature in this group – Newcastle, Norwich, Swansea, Wigan and Tottenham. It’s no surprise to see the likes of Newcastle, Norwich and Swansea in this group as they perpetually undermined doubters throughout season 2011/2012.

Best Teams to Bet the Draw

So which clubs were those that gave the best value for those who were backing the draw in 2011/2012? The chart below shows us.

The Green : These were the clubs that delivered an even stakes profit for the drawn at both home and away over the course of the season. Three clubs feature in this group – Aston Villa, Norwich and Sunderland. Aston Villa the clear oddity of the group as they collected almost 15 units of profit for the draw at even stakes in away matches this season, while gathering a profit of over 4 units at home.

The Blue : Five clubs gave punters draw value at home this season while delivering a loss on the road. They were – Liverpool, Stoke, Swansea, Wigan and Arsenal. Liverpool is the club that stands alone in the group as they drew at home on 9 occasions in 2011/2012 while just once away from home.

The Red : These clubs have draw value away from home in season 2011/2012 while giving draw backers a loss in home matches. Six clubs feature here – Wolverhampton, Everton, Chelsea, Fulham, Tottenham and Blackburn. Blackburn in particular struggled to find results at home this season, collecting just one draw on home turf while managing to find a drawn result on 6 occasions when visitors.

The Black : So which clubs were the worst to bet on for a draw in 2011/2012? Six clubs feature in this group – Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle, West Brom, Bolton and QPR. The two Manchester clubs weren’t the sort of clubs you wanted to be backing for a drawn result this season. Doing so over the course of the season for their combined 76 matches would have seen you leave with a loss over almost 34 units. Disastrous.

Best Team to Bet Over 2.5 goals

So finally, let’s take a look at the Over/Under 2.5 goal markets. The chart below shows which clubs were the best and worst to bet the Over in 2011/2012.

The Green – These were the clubs that exceeded goal scoring expectations both home and away this season, returning a profit for punters backing the Over 2.5 goals. Five clubs feature here – Bolton, Wolverhampton, Blackburn, Norwich and Newcastle. Both Bolton and Wolves were the clear best clubs to bet on the Over 2.5 goals in 2011/2012. Doing so across the course of their combined 76 match season would have seen you collect a profit of 23 units for your 76 units invested.

The Blue : These were the clubs that gave Over 2.5 goal punters great return at home while delivering a loss over the season when playing away. Four clubs feature in this group – Fulham, Manchester City, Chelsea and Sunderland. Fulham was quite perverse here as they gave Over punters an even stakes return of almost 7 units profit in home matches, while away from home thumping Over backers with a loss of over 9 units.

The Red : These were clubs that gave Over backs a profit across the course of the season when playing away while delivering a loss in home matches. Four clubs feature here – Wigan, Arsenal, QPR and West Brom. Wigan matches showed discriminating goal scoring tendencies in 2011/2012, giving Over backers a loss at even stakes of almost 6 units at home while away Wigan matches delivered Over punters a profit of almost 6 units.

The Black : These are clubs that gave Over punters great frustration in 2011/2012, delivering a loss at both home and away and of course, in process delivering Under supporters much delight. Seven clubs feature in this group – Everton, Swansea, Liverpool, Tottenham, Stoke, Aston Villa and Manchester United. Everton was the only outlier here, giving Over punters much grief in 2011/2012, delivering a combined loss at even stakes over their 38 matches of over 12 units.

Concluding thoughts

So there you have it, the Premier League Betting Awards for 2011/2012, the clubs that defied expectations and those that lived up to them. Which clubs will be next year’s big earners? I’ll tell you that the same time next year.

For more betting tips, visit the BettingExpert blog or follow Andrew on Twitter.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Roberto Mancini’s reward for guiding Manchester City to Premier League glory will be a new £20million contract.

Mancini, who has a year left on his current deal, will sign a new four-year agreement worth £5m-a-year. This deal will make the 47-year-old the Premier League’s highest-paid boss alongside Sir Alex Ferguson.

City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak had planned to offer Mancini the lucrative new deal even if the Italian had missed out on the title, such is the club’s faith in him.

But the dramatic final-day title triumph over Manchester United has cemented Mancini’s status as one of the top managers in the world and City know they must reward him accordingly.

Having won the FA Cup and Premier League in his first two full seasons in charge of City, Mancini has set himself a new target for his third campaign at the helm – Champions League glory.

The 47-year-old Italian believes winning the Premier League will arm his players with the belief that they can prove they are not only the best team in England, but the best in Europe.

“That’s the next step,” said Mancini. “The first year was the FA Cup, the second the Premier League, and I hope the third will be the Champions League.

Mancini reflected on two of the most difficult aspects of his triumphant season – managing disruptive duo Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli, whose antics could have cost City the title.

Balotelli missed 11 games through suspension over the season but played a key role in the end, coming off the bench to provide the assist for Aguero’s title-winning goal.

These are just two of the issues Mancini has had to deal with this term. But, regardless, his side have come out on top in the fight for the Premier League.

Mancini’s mind games were extremely interesting to see towards the later stage of the season. He refused to admit City’s chances of title success, seemingly motivating the players to perform as they did. Aguero and co recovered an 8 point deficit within a matter of weeks before winning the league on the final day of the season.

Now, the Manchester City boss insists he needs to improve his squad this summer if the Blues are to build on their Premier League title triumph.

Mancini wants to add the UEFA Champions League to this season’s significant silverware, with City having spent heavily since their takeover by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour in 2008 to establish a position of prominence in the English game.

Although senior figures at City are ready to back Mancini by pushing through attempts to sign Arsenal’s Robin van Persie and Lille midfielder Eden Hazard, the club’s determination to comply with Uefa’s incoming financial fair play regulations ensures that players must be sold in order to make way for expensive new arrivals.

Having recorded losses of £197 million last year, City could balance their transfer spending by offloading the likes of Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, Adam Johnson and Emmanuel Adebayor in the coming months.

But Mancini insists that if City are to take the next step and become a serious contender for European honours, they must follow the blueprint laid down by Spanish giants Real and Barcelona.

“Barcelona and Real Madrid every year buy two or three players and spend a lot of money.”

“I think for Manchester City it will be the same.”

Furthermore,  Carlos Tevez now looks set to stay at the Etihad. The Argentine striker was widely expected to leave in the summer after failing in his attempts to engineer a move during the January transfer window.

Yet after returning to the club following his infamous self-imposed exile in Argentina to play a key role in the run-in, the apparently reintegrated 28-year-old has said he wants to stay.

Their dispute now over, Mancini said: “It’s not difficult to manage Tevez. He’s a good guy. We had a good relationship always.

“I don’t know why we had that situation in September but in the end he’s a good guy and a fantastic player.”

After Premier League success, a very exciting future is about to unfold for Mancini and his City side. Backed by their wealthy owners, it would be very surprising if they failed to make a serious challenge on Europe in the next few seasons. I for one, am extremely excited to see how the squad develops, the blue side of Manchester definitely has the potential for European domination in years to come.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It is widely accepted that most rumoured transfer rumours are made up. They’re made up by newspaper journalists under pressure from tetchy impatient editors who want new, fresh stories that will sell newspapers and garner a load of hits on the internet. So of course journalists lacking imagination get the same players, link them to a few select clubs and vary the transfer fee slightly. So in the case of Tottenham’s stars Gareth Bale and Luka Modric, they link them to Man City, PSG, Real Madrid (all rich clubs and are giants or becoming giants of the modern game) and invent a price somewhere between £30m and £50m.

But in this case, is there a grain of truth in these stories? Are Bale and Modric set to leave Tottenham in the lurch? Do they want to leave? Will Spurs sell them? These are questions that are yet to be answered and which I’ll do my best to decipher with the crystal ball I bought from Mystic Meg.

For this article though I will go through two scenarios; Whether Chelsea win the Champions League final and knock Tottenham out of the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League, and whether Chelsea lose the final and will thereby grant Tottenham a place in the Champions League. This is necessary because the lure of Champions League football may well be what decides their futures, whether that lure comes from Tottenham or a richer, better (and qualified for the Champions League) side which may wisk them away with petro dollars burning a hole in their back pockets.

Luka Modric – If Chelsea win;

In this scenario Modric would be off, possibly even to Chelsea. Last summer Chelsea showed interest and were rumoured to have offered Spurs £40m for his services. Modric and his agent made noises about wanting to leave. He didn’t play in Spurs’s first game of the season against Manchester United because ‘his head wasn’t right’ (according to the always honest Henry James Redknapp) and until the summer transfer window closed appeared moody and sullen on the pitch.

His poor shooting and tendency to pass the ball beautifully when the Match of the Day cameras aren’t looking lead to some people saying he’s average. Having watched him for four seasons I can say he’s pure class and aside from Ledley King the best player I’ve seen for Spurs. He’s completed the second most passes of anyone in the Premeirship this season which shows how much influence he wields on the pitch for Spurs. He’s definitely worth the £40m.

Given his quality, his ludicrously low wages relative to other footballers of his stature (reported at around £40,000 a week) and his age (26) which means he only has a few years left at his peak, there’s no way he stays at Spurs whatever Daniel Levy or ‘Arry will say. The question then is where he goes off to. Tottenham will be very keen to sell him to a side outside England. Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs have been linked the most heavily with Modric though. Tottenham will almost certainly publicly say they won’t sell. But offered enough money and with enough pushing and prodding from Modric and his agent, he’ll be off.

If Chelsea lose;

I would say it’s very likely he’ll leave even though Tottenham would be in the Champions League in this scenario. Though when I say Champions League I mean the qualifying round play-off (potentially against the likes of Malaga and Borussia Monchengladbach) where Spurs almost came unstuck against Young Boys two seasons ago. Participation in the Champions League group stage is by no means guaranteed and makes it more likely Modric will leave.

I say he leaves even if Chelsea lose the final because a 4th place wasn’t enough to keep him. If Tottenham had finished 3rd, had a guaranteed place in the Champions League group stage and were close enough to the Manchester clubs to suggest a title push may be on the cards, then he may have been persuaded to stay. However Tottenham’s mid-season collapse saw them go from 10 points clear of 4th in February to only taking 4th place on the final day with a lower points tally than what they got two seasons ago with such luminaries as Wilson Palacios and Peter Crouch in the starting XI.

A title push doesn’t look a possibility in the foreseeable future, Champions League group stage participation isn’t guaranteed,  transfer funds will be available though not plentiful (Tottenham’s new stadium will swallow up potential transfer funds for the next few seasons) and with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool set to spend more money while Spurs are more busy hanging on to their most valued assets, Spurs are simply not good enough for Modric and he’s making a quarter of the money he could be earning playing for somebody else. He expressed his desire to leave last season and I can’t see what would have radically changed in 12 months to persuade him to stay. There’s a chance Levy could be serious about not selling him and simply refute all transfer bids, but I’m almost certain Modric is leaving whatever the Champions League final outcome.

Gareth Bale – If Chelsea win;

If Chelsea win the final and spend Sunday afternoon on their already planned victory parade and Tottenham are demoted to the Europa League, I’m quite sure Gareth Bale will join Luka Modric in leaving Tottenham for pastures new.

Now unlike with Modric, Bale has expressed no desire to leave apart from saying a couple of weeks ago that he’d consider his options were Tottenham not to qualify for the Champions League. Journalists looking for a scoop may dress this up as him banging on Harry Redknapp’s office door screaming “Let me leave you face-twitching wheeler dealer!!!” but to me that wasn’t him agitating for a move like Modric did last summer. That was him being honest, maybe too honest.

Bale is coming off his most prolific season, having four more assists this season than in his previous four seasons combined and more goals this season than ever before. He’s also still only 22. He’s been linked with Barcelona recently which offers the mouth-watering prospect of Barca having Dani Alves and Bale as the least defensive and most attacking full back pairing in the history of football. With offers like this possibly in the offing, it would be almost embarrassing to ask him to play in the Europa League. If Spurs are in the Europa League, Bale won’t be either.

If Chelsea lose;

I think he stays. Like I said earlier he seems fairly happy at Spurs, and at 22 he’s got years on his side and may not have even reached his peak yet unlike Modric who even at 26 may be wary about not joining a bigger club until it‘s too late. Another season at Spurs for Bale developing his craft and preparing for a big money move to the cauldron of Barca or Madrid may well be what he chooses.

Of course Bale may decide he wants to leave after all if a big money offer comes in. This is the unknown factor here as although there have been rumours of big bids for Bale’s services before none of them have ever amounted to anything. This summer though sides are eager to spend before the FFP rules properly kick in and the likes of Man City, PSG and Malaga have money to burn. Also the established giants of the European game will not be sitting back letting precocious young talents go to rival teams.

Spurs will play hardball. Levy’s a ruthless negotiator and anyone who can sell Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios for a combined £20m is to be feared at a negotiating table. With Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov, Spurs talked tough then sold for an inflated transfer fee. With Modric last summer they talked tough and acted tough. Whether they do the same with Bale, and whether Bale wants to leave are not known. However, with Champions League football in this scenario on the table, Spurs surely not keen for too many of their best players to leave and Bale not conspicuously unhappy at Spurs, I would say he stays at Spurs.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Yesterday evening, at Manchester United’s player of the year dinner, Sir Alex Ferguson announced that Paul Scholes will be staying on as a player at the club for another season. This news will delight the Red Devils fans and will surely soften the blow from missing out on the Premier League this weekend.

Since his return in January, Paul Scholes has re-established himself as a vital member of the United set-up. Appearing in 17 Premier League games (including 15 starts) and scoring 4 goals.

The former England midfielder, aged 37, retired at the end of last season and had been coaching at Old Trafford. His first game back ended in a 3-2 win against Manchester City in the FA cup.

At first I felt this was just a desperate decision as United struggled with injuries in all competitions. But it seems that Ferguson was once again spot on, as Scholes has re-generated the United midfield, despite being the oldest player in the squad.

Scholes has now announced he would be open to an approach from Roy Hodgson if the new England manager wants to include him in his plans for this summer’s European Championship.

Scholes was targeted at the very last minute by Fabio Capello before the 2010 World Cup, but an indirect approach and the timing of that interest was not enough to persuade the Manchester United midfielder to come out of international retirement, six years after his last England game.

He said at the time that a more advanced warning might have been enough to convince him, and it is understood he would be receptive now to an invitation from Hodgson to join his 23-man party in Poland and Ukraine. I wouldn’t bet against him appearing in the competition.

Scholes, at 37 years of age, is still going at the very top of the game, still proving himself as a vital part of the greatest club in the Premier League era.

And he’s still doing it after spending months out of the sport, proving that the only thing that has ever declined in his career is his overall fitness—and even that is at a sensational level for someone of his age.

No other Premier League player, or in fact any player in world football, could probably perform at the level Scholes is at right now given his age, especially after spending seven months away from any competitive football.

And that is why Paul Scholes deserved to be labelled as the greatest midfielder of the Premier League era.

He’s a player who has lasted at the top longer than almost all others in world football, especially those in the Premier League, and is one of the sport’s greatest role models.

A professional’s professional, his former teammate Roy Keane summed Scholes up perfectly:

‘No celebrity bull****, no self-promotion—an amazingly gifted player who remained an unaffected human being.’

Or perhaps the man himself says it best. Despite of all the accolades he’s won, the hype he’s generated and the plaudits he’s received, this is all the Manchester United legend wants from his days as a player:

When it’s over I just want to be able to look in the mirror and say, ‘Well, you were a half-decent player.’

Words which are brilliant yet understated—vintage Paul Scholes.

All United fans can look forward to next season, surely hoping that Scholes can only add to the success of his career.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Despite a fantastically entertaining season with a raft of Premier League winners this term, it has been a campaign to forget for some teams and individuals. Euro 2012, the Olympics and the summer transfer window are approaching, and for some 2011-12 could not come to an end quick enough.

Liverpool

Despite lifting the Carling Cup with victory over Cardiff, 2011/12 has been the worst campaign for Liverpool for quite some time. The Anfield outfit’s fans expected their side to be challenging for a top four berth, but a eighth place finish, 17 points adrift of Tottenham in fourth, has been a massive disappointment.

From Fenway Sports Group’s ill-fated home-grown transfer policy, to Luis Suarez’s racism ban, defeat in the FA Cup final to embarrassing home defeats to some of the division’s lesser lights, Liverpool fans will want to forget 2011/12.

Andre Villas Boas

After leading Porto to an unbeaten league title and lifting the Europa League in 2010/11, Andre Villas Boas was heralded as the next Jose Mourinho and the man to lead Chelsea back to the summit of the Premier League. However, an at times bullish squad rotation system saw the senior players at the club alienated, the Blues floundering outside of the top four and Villas Boas given Roman Abramovich’s axe.

The £13 million Chelsea paid Porto for AVB’s services was not rewarded, and the young trainer is still out of work after seeing his stock drop in west London.

Wolves

Wolves have been in a fight to stay in the Premier League over the last number of seasons, but Mick McCarthy has led them to survival and commanded the respect of the squad. Steve Morgan’s decision to sack McCarthy, despite a poor run of form, was an ill-sighted one, and the appointment of assistant Terry Connor a disaster.

The Molineux club reportedly interviewed the likes of Alan Curbishley and Steve Bruce for the role, but were reluctant to offer the experienced pair long-term contracts. The appointment of Connor has backfired, with the club finishing bottom with a woeful five wins all season.

Sir Alex Ferguson

2011/12 will be a season to forget for Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United. The Old Trafford outfit are known for their will to win and mental toughness at the business end of the season, but the relinquishing of an eight-point lead is sure to give the legendary Scottish manager nightmares for years to come.

A lame Champions League exit in the group stages, a 6-1 hammering from City at Old Trafford and FA Cup elimination to Liverpool have been hard to take for the defending champions’ fans.

Alex McLeish and Aston Villa

Alex McLeish was a shock appointment at Villa Park last summer given his links to rivals Birmingham City, and the club’s supporters have not warmed to the Scot since. A toothless tally of seven wins, weak defending, a lack of creativity and the division’s second-lowest goal tally have had the Villa fans with their heads in their hands.

McLeish’s position as Villa manager must come under scrutiny this summer, but Randy Lerner must also invest in new players if the team are to have a better 2012/13 – Stewart Downing and Ashley Young have simply not been replaced.

Honourable mentions

• Venkys – With Blackburn relegated this term, Steve Kean has received most of the flack from the media and the club’s fans. However, the Lancashire outfit’s Indian owners Venkys have not given the Scottish coach any funds to spend, and the side are now reportedly in financial trouble.
• John Terry – Due to stand a court case in July for reportedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, the Chelsea skipper has lost the captaincy of his country and there is a train of thought that Terry may be excluded completely from Euro 2012. Add to this a sending off against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals for petulantly kneeing Alexis Sanchez, and Terry has had better years.
• Jermain Defoe – The diminutive striker has proved time and again that he can score goals at the top level, but has simply not been given enough time on the pitch this season. Harry Redknapp’s preference for Emmanuel Adebayor and Rafael van der Vaart could cost Defoe a place at Euro 2012.
• Jack Wilshere – The talented Arsenal midfielder has not seen one minute of action this season, with consecutive knee cruciate injuries keeping him on the sidelines throughout. Wilshere will also miss Euro 2012 due to injury.
• Joey Barton – Barton is no doubt talented and able when in the correct mindframe, but stupidity, ill-discipline and a terrible attitude have continued to blight his career. A red card against Manchester City on Sunday cost his team the game and his constant abusive and opinionated Twitter comments should see Mark Hughes ditch his troubled ‘captain’ this summer.

Also See: Biggest Winners of the 2011/2012 Premier League season.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

A fantastic last day of the season capped off one of the most memorable Premier League seasons in the recent memory. 2011/12 has had it all; a topsy-turvy title race that literally went down to the wire, a bitter battle for the top four, heroics in the Champions League and a breathtaking relegation battle. Now that the dust has settled, here are the top five winners of 2011/12.

Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City mindgames

An incredible title race has been consisted of champions and perennial favourites Manchester United being confronted by cross-town rivals Manchester City, with the noisy neighbours claiming victory on a captivating last day. The Etihad Stadium outfit looks almost unstoppable at the start of the season, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s men struggling to keep up at times, before the Red Devils recaptured the advantage and found themselves eight points clear at the summit. After a derby victory for City, the battle went down to the last day, with two goals in stoppage time by Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero against QPR unbelievably giving the Citizens their first top-flight title since 1968.

Ferguson is usually the king of managerial mindgames, but on this occasion the imperious Italian has seemingly got into the United players’ thoughts, and City provide worthy winners of the 2011/12 Premier League.

Alan Pardew and his Newcastle team

Despite missing out on the top four with a last-day defeat by Everton, Newcastle have been exceptional under Alan Pardew this season, and have defied the odds to be in the race for Champions League qualification. The likes of Cheik Tiote, Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye have proved to be astute signings, whilst the January acquisition of Papiss Cisse has resulted in a new number nine hero for the Tyneside club.

Pardew and his side must be given credit for finishing above the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool this season and providing some exceptional football at times.

Newly-promoted sides

Norwich, Swansea and QPR faced an uphill battle to stay in the Premier League this season, and many prophesised a speedy return to the Championship for the trio. However, all three sides have proved that they are good enough to cut it in the top-tier, and will look to push on next term. Swansea have been one of the teams of the season, and an 11th place finish, with a stylish brand of football to boot, is an exceptional achievement. Norwich, led by talisman Grant Holt, were not far behind in 12th and also claimed some scalps this term.

Meanwhile, although QPR escaped the drop on the last day, the Loftus Road club have beaten Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea and Liverpool to show their worth. All three will provide motivation to Southampton, Reading and either West Ham or Blackpool for next season.

Roy Hodgson

With Fabio Capello’s decision to walk away from the England manager’s post, a media frenzy has brewed over who the man to lead the Three Lions to Euro 2012 would be. With Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp the frontrunner and favourite, the press had us believing that it would be a matter of when and not if the White Hart Lane supremo took charge.

However, Roy Hodgson’s excellent achievement of lifting West Brom to 10th in the table has been recognised, and the Hawthorns man will now lead England to Ukraine and Poland.

Football

Football has been a massive winner this term, as the 2011/12 Premier League season has been the most competitive, spell-bounding and enthralling campaign for many a year. Whether it was the race for the title, five teams slugging it out to stay in the division, the heroics of the new boys or the quality of the sides in the top six, 2011/12 will take some beating next season.

Honourable Mentions

• Roberto Di Matteo – The Italian has completely rejuvenated Chelsea since taking over from Andre Villas Boas, and after winning the FA Cup is 90 minutes away from lifting the Champions League crown.
• Paul Scholes – The ageing veteran came out of retirement to show that he still has what it takes to compete at the top level despite his age. Rumours are circulating that Roy Hodgson will take Scholes to Euro 2012.
• Arsene Wenger – Many had lost faith in the French manager at the start of the campaign when the Gunners lost four of their first seven games, but Wenger has led the club to a third-placed finish despite the criticism.
• The FA Cup – With the emergence of the Champions League, over recent seasons the FA Cup has had to take a back seat, but some enthralling games between the nation’s best teams have been a joy to watch this season.
• David Moyes – The Scottish coach continues to overachieve despite a shoestring transfer budget at Goodison Park, and leading the Toffees to seventh place is an excellent return.

Also See: Biggest Losers of 2011/2012 Premier League season.