Them two again? You've gotta be joking!

World number one Raphael Nadal has booked his place in the final of the illustrious Australian Open with a five set thriller over fellow countryman Verdasco. The 14th seed won the opening set 7-6 but Nadal took charge as he clocked the next two. But Verdasco battled on and won the fourth to make it go into the fifth set, and Nadal finally shone through winning the last and most exciting set 7-5.

This sets up a mouth watering clash between Federer and Nadal and is the 19th time they've met in their careers. Nadal leads the win-loss ratio and is in good nick for this final, but if any of you saw Federer's match against Roddick, well lets just say it's definitely not going to be close to easy for Nadal. The last time they locked horns was in that battle of champions at the Wimbledon final. I remeber watching and I was just so amazed that a match could go like that. End to end relentless quality. It finished at a very late time of 21:15, thank God it was summer! Nadal took the trophy off a crestfallen Federer and that marked the start of the Spaniards reign and 'invincibleness' at the top. Since then Nadal and Federer have had a decent time on tour, with Nadal winning the Olympics and Federer taking the trophy at Flushing Meadows.

Who's going to win. Who knows? But what I'm certain about is that I'm definitely going to get up at 8:30 am GMT to watch it!

Kaka move bad for football?

Man City have apparently made a massive £100m bid for superstar Kaka and it looks like AC Milan have let talks proceed. If this crazy deal goes through it is going to spark an almighty argument, some football supporters stating that is will 'ruin the game'. What do I think? Well I'm not sure to be honest. It is really a huge sum of money just for one player and one man, £500,000 a week is too much. However it will really improve the already top-class Premier League and would attract interest from non-football people.

I'm interested to hear what all you people think about this bizarre deal and it would be great if you left a comment by this post, or sending me an email with your views. My address is at the top of the site. I'm looking forward to all your opinions!

Three horse race?-we've seen that before!

As the second half of this Premier League season gets in full flow, it looks like the title will go to either Liverpool, Manchester United or Chelsea. Who will win it I cannot say, but I predict that, like last season, only two of the three will be in contention come May. This time last season Arsenal were in the running with Chelsea and Manchester United and they eventually ran out of juice around March. We could see that Arsenal were going to falter somewhere because their squad was just not big enough to win a League. But this time, you really can't say who will drop out, if any! I'm torn between Chelsea and Liverpool because United are really looking good, and that 3-0 drumming of Chelsea really put them in a very strong position. Where as Chelsea are now looking like their in pretty bad shape, with bust-up's between players and the manager, it looks like it's going to be a hard couple of months to stay in the running. But they are always there or there abouts, so that's why I'm going with Liverpool to run out of steam.

None of their players have been in this situation before. They're pretty experienced, but even the likes of Jamie Carragher haven't experienced a true title challenge with all the pressure that goes with it. Their cause wasn't helped with Benitez's snide comments and the 0-0 draw with Stoke City. Not a rare occurence this season for Liverpool (0-0 results)! I just think that they are really feeling the pressure, and if Man United win at Bolton and Chelsea win against Stoke that will put huge amounts of pressure on Liverpool to win the Merseyside Derby on Monday! Altogether, I think that United will go on to win the title because they've done it before and their manager is very good at getting his team to win when they need it.

Kaka rejects move to City and Adriano move ruled out by agent

Brazilian star Kaka has been linked with big-money Man City this month and it certainly looked possible, as there are a few Brazilians at the club. In addition there was the money, which is probably twice as much an any other other footballer apart from Beckham! But today Kaka rejected the Manchester club, and made it clear he wasn't leaving to go to Man City. I thought he might have gone, if he hadn't looked at the Premier League table which sees them in 15th place two points from safety. It's clear that City have the money, but they don't have the aura or the quality of the top four sides, which attracts big name players. It is going to be hard to get that really big signing which may kick start a few of them coming in. Robinho has made that move and he certainly is a huge player, but said he was happy to arrive at Chelsea in his opening interview!

And Tottenham manager Rednapp must be a bit gutted that the Adriano move has been ruled out because that would have been a great signing, even on loan. It looks like the move isn't going to happen, as Adriano's agent said he wasn't going and Mourinho wanted him in Milan. The Brazilian is a very talented player and was rumoured to be in loan swap with Gareth Bale, who would go the other way. But it doesn't look like it will happen, and Rednapp may look elsewhere to bolster his squad who are currently in the drop zone.

KP resigns AS a new captain come in

Yesterday, big-hitting Kevin Pietersen resigned as England captain as news came out that he had fallen out with Peter Moores and some of his fellow national team-mates. He called the media tabloids 'unfortunate' as he explained his important decision and that 'he couldn't carry on as captain'. This left the ECB a tricky and crucial decision to make, but they made it quickly with opener Andrew Strauss collecting the baton. He seems the right (and only) man for the job, with England flying out to the Carribean for a test series. Strauss is experienced and has captained England before so he knows what he has to do.

But the quest is on to find a new coach, as Peter Moores was also stripped of his role and with England travelling to the West Indies on the 21st of January they need to act fast. But the captain is more important so the board must be relieved that Andrew took the job.

But although Pieterson resigned as captain, he clearly made it known that he wishes to be part of the team which will eventually come back to England to host the Ashes tour. He is a great batsmen and has a lot to offer the national side, with big hitting and stylish shots both in his range. We will have to wait and see if Strauss will be indeed the man to carry Enlgand's hopes but we can be sure he will have the backing of the team and the board. Good luck to him.

Downing for Tottenham?

Today Stewart Downing put in a transfer request to Middlesbrough and it looks like Boro have rejected it! But what you see when you look at his future his thick mist. He desperately wants to leave his boyhood team and Middlesbrough desperately want to keep him. If he does stay he will still be a regular starter but that isn't enough for him. He wants to go to a better club to fulfill his potential and Tottenham seems to be high on his list and him high on Rednapp's. But the chairman and the club seem somewhat reluctant to let their local star to leave and rejected Tottenham's revised bid of £11 million which is a chunky offer. 

We just have to wait and see if Spurs make a new, better offer and if Middlesbrough will accept it. But for now Downing remains at his hometown club and has to commit himself to Gareth Southgate for now.

Defoe wants out

Portsmouth's executive chairman Peter Storrie has told us that Defoe wants to leave Fratton Park after just 12 months at the club. He was angered at being left on the bench against Arsenal and wants to leave in this transfer window. It is rumoured that he wants to join Rednapp at Tottenham but he hasn't actually come out and said that. Rednapp though wants to bring him back to White Hart Lane and said '' If we could agree a fee with Portsmouth, then fine he is a good player.'' But he won't be let go for any old price. Storrie goes on to explain '' If Jermain goes then it will be at our price and an appealing offer.'' The front man has also been linked with Aston Villa as Martin O'Neill looks to improve the depth in a small squad.

Transfer window begins

Today the relatively new January transfer window begins and it is building up to be an exciting one, with Man City and some other clubs willing to open up their cheque books. 

Man City have already made it clear that they wish to buy in this window with a bid for out-of-favour Chelsea left-back Wayne Bridge. Mark Hughes is an admirer of Bridge and is looking to strengthen up his back four which have conceded a disappointing 3o league goals already this season. You may also see some big bids for star players such as Kaka and Fabregas but those aren't very likely to go through.

Chelsea may also look to spend because they have looked a bit dry without Essien and Carvalho. They may also look to add to their front line with only two players in that position at the moment. They are just looking to bolster their squad because there are 3 trophies that could be theirs at the end of the season.

It is going to be an interesting window and I would advise all you football fans to follow it because your club will be likely to make some signings.