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Goalkeeper Chris Kirkland is determined to try and force his way back into Wigan Athletic's first team, having lost his place following a dismal start to the new season.

The 29-year-old was dropped after shipping ten goals in two games, with loanee Ali Al Habsi being given the nod by manager Roberto Martinez.

A defiant Kirkland told the Wigan Observer:"It's the first time I've ever been in this situation in all the time I've been playing, but I'm no different to everyone else.

"There are much better players than me who have been left out of the team and have had to work their way back in. I'm no special case or anything like that.

"I've always had to work very hard to stay in the team and now I'm not I know I'll have to work even harder to get back in there.

"It's hard not playing, of course it is, but I know that I didn't play well enough to deserve to stay in the team.

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"And I've always said that it doesn't matter who you are – if you're not playing well enough, there are people here who will come in and take your place."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

You can say what you want about the transfer windows and while most football managers tend to be disparaging about them, most supporters will be lying if they didn’t admit that they get bought into the daily gossip and rumours that sweep the newspapers, forums and various blog sites. Much of the stuff that gets written never prevails, but it doesn’t stop us all getting excited while the speculation mounts up. The January window so far has been a little quiet as we approach the half way through point; however you do get a sense that in this period we are witnessing the calm before the eventual transfer storm in the Premier League.

The lack of spending at the top of the Premier League has surprised many, especially given the open nature of this title race; the fight for a top four finish, not to mention the open fight to stay in the Premier League. It appears that clubs are biding their time and we all sit and wait for that breakthrough transfer that generally kick-starts everyone into action. Whether we will witness the type of money that was squandered last January remains to be seen, but I would be incredibly shocked if the window passed without at least one big money move.

Kenny Dalglish has come out today and suggested that he doesn’t expect any new arrivals or players leaving Anfield in the next 24hrs. Whether that will happen remains to be seen as Liverpool have a habit of undertaking some last minute activity in the transfer market, as proven in the last two windows.

So how do Liverpool fans feel about the lack of transfer activity in January? Did the squad really need improving and have you heard any rumours about potential incomings or outgoings at Anfield?

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Manchester United target Manuel Neuer has decided where he will spend his future, according to reports on The Guardian website.

Neuer was quoted as saying was “The important people know“.

It appears extremely unlikely that the German number one will be Edwin Van der Sar’s replacement. If his destination was to be Manchester the news would have surely broken by now.

Bayern Munich Sporting Director Christian Nerlinger was keeping his cards close to his chest when quizzed about Bayern’s chances of signing Neuer in German newspaper De Bild. Although, he did give an indication that the much sort after Neuer could be heading for The Allianz Arena “We know which way this is going, the question is now whether we can find a quick solution.”

If Neuer is set to sign for the Bavarians it will cause initial displeasure among some of Bayern’s die hard fans. They have been protesting about the potential transfer as a result of Neuer’s allegiance and strong roots to Schalke.

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Bayern legend Oliver Kahn gave his take on the matter, he is quoted in De Bild as saying, “It takes a couple of training session and a saved penalty, and everyone’s on your side, around 75-80% of fans would say it makes sense to get him, because he’s on his way to become absolute world class.”

It appears there is a strong likelihood that Neuer will be keeping goal for Bayern Munich next season. We still don’t know for certain where the Schalke’s skipper will be playing, but he knows and so do the club.

Fulham assistant manager Mark Bowen has confirmed that his club hope to tie England striker Bobby Zamora down to a new long-term contract in the near future.

The 29-year-old was linked with both Liverpool and Birmingham City before the transfer window slammed shut, but the Cottagers now hope to secure Zamora’s long-term services.

Bowen told Sky Sports:“What I know is that he is currently in discussions with the club over a possible new deal.

“It has been ongoing for a few months and obviously way before Mark Hughes and I came in.

“But my understanding is that we are hopeful Bobby will agree a long-term contract with the club.”

Meanwhile, veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has refused to re-open the wounds caused by his move to Arsenal being blocked by the Cottagers.

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The 37-year-old Australia international commented: “I would really rather not say anything, because otherwise I might say something wrong.”

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Simeon Jackson scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time to gain a well deserved draw for Norwich after Fulham threatened to leave Carrow Road with all three points.

Orlando Sa’s curler after seven minutes looked to have sealed a priceless away victory for the Cottagers only for Jackson to pop up in the 94th minute nodded the ball home to keep Paul Lambert’s side firmly camped in the top half of the Premier League – a similar position occipired by Blackpool who ended the season in the bottom three. They dominated the second half with David Stockdale’s goal bombarded before the late equaliser cost Martin Jol’s side dearly at the death who should have added to their lead long before the Canaries finally broke their resistance. It’s that sort of fighting spirit that will stand them in good stead come the business end the campaign as they refused to throw in the towel even in the dying embers.

With Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson not even in the squad for the trip to East Anglia, prompting speculation over their futures at Craven Cottage, Sa was tasked with leading the line and showed he can cut it in the top flight opening the scoring inside the first ten minutes. The young striker swivelled on Zak Whitbread before curling a sumptuous effort past John Ruddy to give the visitors an early lead. It should have been two soon after only for the 24-year-old to see Kyle Naughton to clear his effort off the line after being played in by Kerim Frei. Norwich finally started to get themselves into the game after that with Bradley Johnson seeing his strike deflected wide before Stockdale did superbly to tip Whitbread’s header onto the woodwork. Fulham still attacked with purpose and were close to doubling their lead through Clint Dempsey but the American’s header rattled against the cross bar before Frei stung Ruddy’s palms with a cracking strike from distance.

Lambert threw on captain Grant Holt at half time and it changed the complexion of the game as the Canaries begun their aerial assault on the visitors goal. However they almost levelled in emphatic fashion with Naughton opting to take a more conventional route to goal cracking the bar with a strike from distance before Anthony Pilkington lashed one over from 20-yards. Andrew Surman then forced Stockdale into a low save before Lambert made his second telling substitution throwing Jackson on for Steve Morison. The Canadian striker saw a swerving effort smarmy saved by Stockdale before heading in Elliott Bennett’s delicious cross to snatch a vital point for the Canaries.

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Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has defended midfielder Gareth Barry after he was at the receiving end of a barrage of criticism.Controversial Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton had earlier compared Barry’s pace to that of a “tortoise” in an interview with French magazine, So Foot.

The former Man City midfielder went on to question the ability of Barry, who captained England in their friendly win over Ghana last month.

“Barry’s got a very good agent. He’s also discreet and always agrees with the manager. He’s like the guy who sits in the front row and listens to the teacher. I certainly don’t lose any sleep when I play against him,” Barton said.

“Did you see the game against Germany at the World Cup? If you watch the fourth goal, when (Mesut) Oezil was up against Barry, it was like the hare and the tortoise.”

But Mancini has responded, claiming that Barry is a “fantastic” player while Barton is merely a “good player”, also stating that every manager would want a player of his quality.

“Gareth Barry for me is a fantastic man. As a player, he is an incredible player, he works very hard, always 100 percent, he doesn’t speak but works and works for every game. I think that all managers want a player like Gareth,” Mancini said.

“I think that Barton is a good player, but I think that Gareth Barry is a fantastic player, I can only say this, the other situation is not important for me.”

Mancini’s side, fresh from thrashing Sunderland 5-0 last weekend, travel to Anfield on Monday to face a Liverpool side looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat at the hands of West Brom.

And Mancini believes his side are in the right shape to maintain their quest for a top four finish

He added: “I think we always had a good spirit and desire. Maybe we had one month when we were really tired because we had injured players.”

“At the moment it’s good, I think it’s important we continue (to have desire) if we want to continue to win and we should start with Liverpool.”

City will have to make do without Micah Richards (hamstring), Jerome Boateng (knee) and Kolo Toure (suspended) for Monday night’s clash.

The start of the 2010/11 Premier League is drawing ever closer and teams like Manchester United are well into their pre-season campaign. Like many Premiership teams, United headed to America for a pre-season tour where they took on Philadelphia Union, Kansas City Wizards and the MLS All-Stars. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson would have been keeping a close eye on his troops ahead of the new season as he plots to regain the Premier League title the Red Devils lost to Chelsea last time out. Pre-season is not just all about hard work though and there is time for the players to relax and explore different surroundings. Edwin van der Sar and Nani did just that and here they are on the famous ‘Rocky’ steps in Philadelphia. Can you provide a funny caption for the image?

Leave your suggestions below…

This week you can win a £50 iTunes Voucher!

Our prize has been provided by VoucherCodes.co.uk (www.vouchercodes.co.uk). At the moment they have 70% off Nike Air Max (http://www.vouchercodes.co.uk/sportsdirect.com).

To see the FootballFanCast.com Caption Competition Terms and Conditions click here.

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And check out our Caption Competition Gallery for some inspiration and to see the winners so far.

Last week’s winner: ulley – click here to see all entries

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has spoken of his disappointment, after a late West Brom goal condemned his side to a 3-2 defeat on Wednesday night.

Demba Ba continued his excellent goalscoring form, twice bringing The Magpies level after goals from Peter Odemwingie and Gareth McAuley, but a Paul Scharner effort with five minutes left stole victory for the visitors.

Pardew was unhappy with the defeat, especially given that Newcastle played well in the second half and were at home.

“It’s an upsetting game for us to lose because we are at home,” he told Sky Sports.

“The first half I didn’t think we played anywhere near to our ability.

“Second half we did. We came back from a goal down. We was bossing proceedings, looking like we were going to get back into it, and when we got the second goal it set us up for a grand stand finish.

“But then to get done on the counter attack because of us looking for the win, maybe we were a little bit too desperate tonight.

“We would have had 30 points if we won tonight and maybe we wanted it too much, and didn’t play as controlled as we usually do.

“We were creating chance after chance before we scored and then when we did we thought there we go, we can win it, but the front two for West Brom were a threat all night.

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“They got down the side and had a bit of fortune for the goal I thought,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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A late Erik Huseklepp strike salvaged a 1-1 draw for Norway in Saturday?s Euro 2012 qualifier with Denmark, while Cyprus and Iceland drew.Veteran winger Dennis Rommedahl fired Denmark into the lead with a well-struck volley in the 27th minute, but Huseklepp guided a left-footed shot home nine minutes from time to grant the hosts a point that stretches their lead atop Group H to three points.

The home side failed to carve out clear-cut chances throughout the encounter and opted for a direct route to goal, with towering Fulham centre-back Brede Hangeland a constant menace for the Danish defence from set pieces.

Olympiaklos winger Rommedahl netted the opener somewhat against the run of play, firing home a fierce volley into the top-right corner after Norway?s defence failed to clear a corner.

The Danes settled well after taking the lead and motored occasional bursts forward through Ajax man Christian Eriksen, a constant menace for the Norwegian defence on the wing.

After seeing his side struggle to trouble the goal of Thomas Sorensen for most of the second half, Norway coach Egil Olsen replaced defender Espen Ruud with forward Daniel Braaten, a ploy that paid off when Braaten fed Bari front-man Huseklepp to level proceedings.

The draw means Norway lead the group standings on 10 points, three ahead of Portugal and Denmark on seven.

Cyprus and Iceland round out the standings but remain winless after sharing the spoils from a lacklustre 0-0 draw in Nicosia.

Chryssis Michail squandered a 21st-minute penalty for the hosts, with Iceland gloveman Stefan Magnusson parrying his effort to safety.

The hosts were also denied a late winner when Constantinos Makridis? long-range effort struck the post, while Iceland, who spent most of the match defending, saw Birkir Saevarsson waste their only opportunity of note before half-time.

New boss Avram Grant insists West Ham's struggle to avoid relegation last season will have no bearing on how they perform when the new campaign gets underway.

The former Chelsea and Portsmouth manager was confirmed in the Upton Park hot-seat last month after the Hammers parted company with predecessor Gianfranco Zola on the back of a turbulent season.

Following talk of financial turmoil and the likely departure of key players, they laboured to a 17th-placed finish in the final table after being embroiled in a relegation dogfight during the closing weeks of the campaign.

However, despite the severe problems of last season, Grant believes there is every reason for optimism ahead of the new campaign.

"What happened in the past happened in the past. I'm looking for a new beginning, " he said.

"Our target is not only for next season but for the next seasons. We want to progress. We want our academy to progress.

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"We want the team to progress. We want to build a platform that will progress each year and I'm sure we will do it.

"We want to progress with good players. The players from the academy are doing a good job, but we need good experienced players with talent too."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email