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Ian will be here shortly. In the meantime, here's the latest news on Brendan Rodgers' move to Anfield, a gallery of his managerial career so far, as well as David Conn's exclusive story about the Reds being poised to ditch new stadium in favour of Anfield expansion. Read More
Today's nonsense is keeping it real
It wasn't always meant to be like this. Sure, being the Fleet Street's fourth best footballer relocator rumour ruminator has it perks – like the pulchritudinous women of Stockwell's most exclusive nightclubs projecting themselves with abandon at the pointed toe of the Mill's size-seven spats – but this was not how the Mill originally envisaged its working life. Like 11 percent of kids these days, it wanted popularity, it wanted plenitude, it wanted its name in the most coruscating of neon lights above the community centre in Barnsley on a Saturday night: it wanted to be a rapper.
Inspired by such luminaries as Nas, the Notorious B.I.G. and Tony Mortimer's verse in Let in Rain, the Mill abandoned its youthful hours to performing in front of a suburban looking glass – adorned in a pointing-sidewards Raiders cap and a flabby, off-white vest borrowed from its Pee – hip-hopping until rosy-fingered Dawn peeped over the eastern panorama. Alas to no avail, it seems raps about soil erosion in Hemsworth just ain't what the radio wants, and so the Mill has been left with a life's labour of ceaseless transfer talk so all-consuming that these days it is lucky if it can find half an hour a week in which to get funky. But with the weekend fast approaching, the Mill is determined to get out this rut and back into the groove, just as soon as Friday's flapdoodle is done away with. So let's get it over with then, shall we?
Not content with the midfield mastery of David Silva, Yaya Touré, Samir Nasri and, er, James Milner, the Manchester City top dog Roberto Mancini is looking to strengthen his side's obvious weak spot by lavishing £14m worth of dead presidents on Bologna's dynamic and dazzling midfield diamond Gastón Ramírez. "Ramírez is a good young player, with great potential," fluttered the Italian, eyelashes hopping up and down like an albatross on a pogo stick, but he faces stiff competition from Juventus and Wolfsburg for the young man's John Hancock.
On the other side of city, Sir Alex Ferguson is doing his best to convince Valencia's Jordi Alba that he would be better off in the tea-towel red and black of Manchester United rather than the dinophobia-inducing number Barcelona will be sporting come next August. The full-back will say thanks but no thanks just as soon as he stops laughing. However, in some good news for the Scot, it seems he is no longer going to be stuck sharing the bench with Dimitar Berbatov after Paris Saint-Germain decided that the 31-year-old Count von Count impersonator was just the sort of striker that could lead them to the glory.
Like the Mill missing its funky time, José Mourinho misses Didier Drogba and the Special One is "desperate" to be reunited with his buddy of old. In truth, Mourinho has been a mess without him. He misses him so damn much. He misses being with him. He misses being near him. He misses his laugh. He misses his scent. In fact, when all the contract negotiations are done between the Ivorian striker's Mr 15% and Real Madrid, Mourinho wants the two to get an apartment together. Far from being freaked out by this prospect, Drogba is ready to give an almighty two fingers to Shanghai Shenhua and their £300,000 a week contract in order to move to the Spanish capital. Two players who are not saying no to China, however, are the Blackburn duo of Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Gaël Givet.
Meanwhile, deep in the bowels of the Britannia, Martin O'Neill and David Moyes are holding their glasses to boardroom door as they do their darndest to hear how talks between Robert Huth and cap-wearing's Tony Pulis are progressing. If there is the slightest hitch, both will burst in and offer the wall-shaped human battering ram a shiny new contract. Should Moyes get there before O'Neill, the Northern Irishman will solve all of Sunderland's defensive problems by throwing money in the direction of Carlos Cuéllar. Yeah, The Mill had a laugh at that one too.
The opening game of Euro 2012 kicks off in Warsaw a week today. Here is the first of five fans' guides to Poland's host cities, starting with the Polish capital, compiled by east Europe travel guide specialists inyourpocket.com
For fans visiting Poland during Euro 2012 there's more than just the football to look forward to. The best weather typically comes at this time of year; prices for food and beer are competitive compared with western Europe; and the hospitable locals are keen to show that they are more than ready and capable of hosting the tournament. Here's our fans' guide to the Polish capital.
Warsaw's position as Poland's business hub means you will have no problem finding an international brand hotel such as the Marriott, Intercontinental or Hilton. Finding a room in one though will be a problem as they have been booked out by officials, which means you'll have to delve deeper to find accommodation. Try to book a room at Castle Inn (+48 22 425 01 00, doubles standard rates from 305 PLN, around €69 though prices will be higher during the tournament), a welcoming boutique, mid-range hotel in Warsaw's picturesque old town from where you can look out across the river at the National Stadium where Poland will play in the tournament's opening game.
Depending on whether you have more or less to spend we'd also recommend the independent Art Deco Rialto (€110 a night without breakfast) or the charismatic Oki Doki hostel (+48 228280122, doubles from €34 B&B with shared bath, dorms from €9), both of which are a short walk from the main Fan Zone. The closest hotel to the Fan Zone and a five-minute tram ride from the stadium is the historic Polonia Palace (+48 22 31 82 800, doubles from €65).
Think Poland – think cold war, Warsaw Pact and communism right? Well, while the city has lots of "classic" brutalist, socialist-era architecture left, the city is more London than Minsk on the dining scene these days. There is one culinary relic left over from the old days however, and that is the milk bar (bar mleczny). These steamy cafeterias are more foreigner friendly than in the past but it is still likely that you'll have to decode the Polish-only menu. Our favourite for the full pre-capitalist experience is Mleczarnia Jerozolimska where the food is reasonable and the service authentic. For value-for-money Polish food in a great location try Pierrogeria on Pl. Konstytucji. Here you'll be able to sample pierogi, one of Poland's signature dishes, for a handful of zlotys while taking in a view of some of the best examples of socialist architecture in the city. Oberza Pod Czerwonym Wieprzem (The Inn Under the Red Pig) features staff in communist-era dress who serve excellent, trouser-busting portions of traditional Polish food such as sour rye soup and pork knuckle, under the painted gaze of some of the period's political leaders such as Brezhnev and Gierekgaze. Restauracja Polska Rozana, with its wonderful country manor house setting, proves Polish food isn't just huge portions at wallet-friendly prices. This place gives Polish cuisine a whole new look and will make you feel like an Uefa executive committee member.
The Warsaw stadium sits proudly on the east bank of the Wisla, directly across from the city, so it will be possible to relax in any city-centre bar before nipping across the river by train, tram, taxi or even on foot. A couple of places worth mentioning are the fan-friendly Warsaw Tortilla Factory or the Bierhalle restaurant and bar, which brews its own beers on-site. An outdoor option is the rotund bar Lolek in Pole Mokotowskie Park, which has a Munich beer-hall atmosphere with sausages and the like cooking on the grill around the clock.
Located where once the tanks rolled, the armies marched and the commie leaders waved, up to 100,000 football fans will be accommodated with huge screens, food and drink and live music. Pl Defilad (Parade Square) sits in the shadow of the city's signature building – the Ghostbusters-like Palace of Culture and Science.
Warsaw is in the midst of a revival, and to truly appreciate why being chosen to host Euro 2012 was so important to the city it is worth spending a couple of hours learning about the city's traumatic history at the excellent Warsaw Uprising Museum. That Warsaw is even here today to host this tournament is a testament to the indestructible nature of its people – and the fact the national stadium couldn't be built until hundreds of 45m support pillars had been driven into the rubble of pre-1944 Warsaw on which it was to be built is a powerful illustration of what these championships mean to Warsaw and Poland as a whole.
Every city in the tournament has seen an increase in the number and quality of hotel rooms available since 2007 when Poland won the right to host Euro 2012. However many rooms, entire hotels even, have already been booked out by Uefa. While prices of accommodation are typically competitive compared with western Europe, it seems clear that the lack of availability has seen prices rise particularly around match days. In addition to the thousands of new hotel rooms which have been built, temporary accommodation such as the Carlsberg Fan Camps in the four Polish host cities has been added while in Gdansk the Polferries ferry which normally crosses between Poland and Sweden is to be moored around matchdays and become effectively a floating hotel.
The Polish stadia are all very impressive – Gdansk's PGE Arena, designed to look like a glowing piece of Baltic amber at night. However, if you are planning on watching a game in more than one city during your stay, getting between cities may cause some problems. Major road and rail building continues and the ambitious program will not be complete ahead of the Euros. Poznan airport's new terminal opened on 28 May, Poznan's new train station on 29 May. Wroclaw's main train station and the railway connection between Warsaw airport and the city centre will both open today (1 June).
Rather surprisingly, the composition of the groups has baffled some watchers with Wroclaw/Poznan and Warsaw/Gdansk far more natural partners in terms of infrastructure available and distances that will have to be covered. Driving in Poland, while not discouraged, is not as straightforward as in most western European countries; travel times can be long and journeys tiring. There is no direct motorway between Poznan and Gdansk for instance and the 300km journey will take at least four hours despite a stretch of 100km on the new A1 dual carriageway. Meanwhile, the Intercity train between Warsaw and Wroclaw is scheduled to take five hours during the tournament (and that has been speeded up).
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• Credit card firm takes over sponsorship from Carling
• Football League announce a four-year deal
The League Cup will be known as the Capital One Cup from the start of the new season under a four-year sponsorship agreement with the credit card company, the Football League has announced.
Liverpool won the competition – then called the Carling Cup – in the season just concluded, beating Cardiff 3-2 on penalties at Wembley in February.
The value of the new sponsorship deal was not disclosed. The Football League's chief commercial officer, Richard Heaselgrave, said: "This is terrific news for clubs and a great way to conclude what has been a memorable domestic football season.
"The Capital One Cup is in great shape having been re-invigorated in recent seasons by a number of memorable finals, some thrilling midweek cup football and a first glimpse of the stars of the future."
The draw for the first round of the rebranded competition will be made on 14 June, with the final scheduled to take place at Wembley on 24 February. Read More
• German club would only sign Berbatov on a free transfer
• Striker appears to be leaving Manchester United this summer
Dimitar Berbatov will not be returning to Bayer Leverkusen, though the Manchester United forward's future remains unclear.
Berbatov played for Leverkusen for five seasons before he moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 2006. But Wolfgang Holzhauser, the chief executive, said: "We are looking to find a striker, one that works well alongside Stefan Kiessling. However, the return of Berbatov is not an option for us. We are still on good terms with him but he would only be an option if he was available on a free transfer."
This will not be a possibility as Berbatov is signed on for another year at Old Trafford, and with him costing £30.75m four years ago United will be keen to try to recoup around half of that.
Berbatov does appear to be leaving at some point this summer, though, after he admitted frustration this week: "My time at United is running out, I no longer feel like a valuable part of this team. I think I did well in the few opportunities that I received. I am a little frustrated by the way this happened, I do not think I deserved it." Read More
