Scotland: Celtic held in eight-goal thriller

An Interesting Match entertaining the fans with GOALS!!

Coming off of a humiliating 5-0 defeat in Champions League play in the midweek, the Bhoys and manager Gordon Strachan got off to a flying start in SPL play when Hartson, last season's leading scorer, headed home an Alan Thompson cross for a 1-0 lead.

Motherwell, who beat Celtic to deny them the title on the final day last season, pulled level just six minutes later when Brian Kerr blasted a shot beyond Celtic goalkeeper David Marshall.

Celtic would regain the lead just beyond the half-hour when Hartson bagged his second goal, heading home another cross, this one from Aiden McGeady. He would complete his treble with a minute to play in the first half with a penalty after Motherwell goalkeeper Gordon Marshall took down Stilian Petrov in the area.

Down two goals, Motherwell appeared out of it, but they came to life after the restart, Jim Hamilton getting the rally started in the 58th minute on a header after a volley from Alan McCormack.

Two minutes later, the home side were level again at 3-3 when striker Scott McDonald's touch eluded David Marshall.Motherwell's comeback was complete just six minutes from time as they took a 4-3 lead when William Kinniburgh's header off a Hamilton cross found the back of the net.

Celtic looked all set to lose their first match of the season when Craig Beattie came to the rescue in added time, gathering a long pass by Hartson and beating Gordon Marshall for a draw and a single point salvaged

Gronkjaer to Stuttgart, CoCo to Greek

Atletico Madrid’s speedy winger Jesper Gronkjaer has opened the door to a move to the Bundesliga after agreeing terms with Stuttgart.The Danish international has failed to settle in Spain since moving from Birmingham in the January transfer window and has now completed a medical with the German side.The move is still to be finalised with Stuttgart having to finalise a transfer fee with Atletico.

Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini is prepared to allow left-back Francesco Coco to move to Olympiakos.It is rumoured that an agreement was reached between the two clubs, which would allow the former AC Milan and Barcelona player to move to Athens on loan for the season.Coco is desperate to move in order to rebuild his reputation, which once saw him labelled as the ‘new Paulo Maldini.’Coco could be presented to the Greek media at a conference early next week

Vassell close to Man City switch

(News from SoccerWay.com)
MANCHESTER, Jul 26 (SW) - Aston Villa forward Darius Vassell is currently negotiating personal terms with Premiership rivals Manchester City.

Villa has decided to cash in on the player, who has only one-year remaining on his contract, with a reported £2.5 million fee agreed between the two clubs.

Speaking from the club's training base in Sweden, manager David O’Leary has confirmed the likely move by revealing the player has left the Villa camp in order to meet face-to-face with City officials.

“Darius was asked to go back to England and there was no reason to stop him. It all happened very quickly yesterday and we were able to get him on a flight,” said Villa manager O’Leary.

“He's gone back to have a medical and sign for Manchester City. I can't say at the moment what the exact fee is, but I think it's a fee that suits Aston Villa.

When questioned if the sale was a means of raising transfer cash, O’Leary was quick to deny such suggestions.“It's not fair to say that I had to sell Darius to bring in money. That would be totally unfair on the club, this is a good deal,” insisted the former Leeds coach.

“I've got a budget where I have to try and get players in, but that's nothing to do with the Darius deal. “He had a year left on his contract, we've been offered good money by Manchester City, so it suits everybody all round as it stands.

“But who knows - the player could maybe go up there and fail to agree terms, so it's not done yet.”

Figo joining Liverpool?

(News extract from Soocernet.com)

Luis Figo is all set to join Liverpool, provided Real Madrid don't demand a transfer fee, according to the midfielder's agent Luis Douens.

Liverpool are not prepared to pay a fee on top of the 32-year-old's wages and Figo is set to meet Real president Florentino Perez, who wants a cash deal, in a bid to move to Anfield.

'An accord exists between Liverpool and Luis over the financing of the move,' Douens told Sky Sports. 'Luis wants to play in England and Liverpool is a great club.'

But Douens warned: 'The decision rests on Real. If they want money for the transfer then I believe it will be hard.'
Sporting director Arrigo Sacchi insists the decision lies with the Primera Liga club's president.

'The subject of Figo is a question for Florentino,' said Sacchi. 'The final decision will be with the president.' Figo cost £37million when he signed from arch rivals Barcelona in August 2000

Dennis Bergkamp

Dennis Bergkamp...one of the greatest player in EPL (at least this is what I think of)...

Some stats about this great player 1st :
Position : Forward
Date of birth : 10th of May, 1969
Place of birth : Amsterdam, Holland
Height : 183cm / 6'0
Weight : 78kg / 173lb
Family : Married to Henrita Ruizendaal,
daughters Estelle Deborah &
Yasmin, son Mitchel
Previous Clubs: AFC Ajax Amsterdam, FC
Internazionale Milano
Current Club : Arsenal

Bergkamp was born in Amsterdam on May, 1969 and joined the Ajax youth team when he was 12.In 1990 he won the Championship medal with Ajax and in 1993 the Dutch Cup. He also became an international in the Dutch squad. Dennis was with Inter Milan for about 2 seasons before he joined his current club Arsenal at a record purchase of 7.5m pounds.

Dennis Bergkamp played his best football in the 97-98 season. The 29-year-old (at the moment) Dutchman became the most dominating player in English Premier League. He led Arsenal into the Premier League champions and the F.A. Cup winners, although Bergkamp was injured during the last few games, including the cup final on Wembley. He made a sensational start for the Gunners as they mounted an impressive challenge to Manchester United's supremacy in the title race

Dennis got many awards along the way to the double: He was voted 'Player Of The Year' by his collegues, the biggest personal award a player can get in the UK. He also ended third in the voting for 'FIFA player of the year'. In September Dennis was named player of the month for the second time, the first player to win the award in consecutive months. Before that, BBC's Match of the Day programme had voted his strikes first, second and third in their goal of the month, a feat unaqualled by any other player in the 25-year history of the competition.