Lampard backs Robinho to shine

Chelsea's Frank Lampard says Robinho's talent will "light up the league" when the Brazil forward signs from Real Madrid.
Chief executive Peter Kenyon is confident of wrapping up the deal for Robinho, with Chelsea's official website pre-empting the move by taking orders for kits with the 24-year-old's name printed and the number 'to be confirmed'.
Despite Real president Ramon Calderon insisting "the coach and the sports director want the player to stay and I am sure he will", Robinho's departure from the Bernabeu appears inevitable.
And Lampard is among those excited by the move.
"He is a fantastic player, I saw a lot of him last season watching the Spanish games. He had a very good season until he got injured and it broke his season up a bit," Lampard said on official Chelsea website www.chelseafc.com.
"He has great flair, and something that would be nice to bring into our team. We have flair players already but he is another option and he could light up the league.
"He will have to get used to it because it is different to Spain, but he showed he is a world-class player both at Madrid and for Brazil, and world-class players adapt."
Meanwhile, Chelsea face a trip to play Romanian outfit Cluj as well as being drawn with Roma and Bordeaux in Group A of the Champions League.
Chelsea club secretary David Bernard told Sky Sports News: "The Romanian team is of interest to us because I'm not aware of them at all.
"Any team that reaches the group stage of the Champions League deserves respect so we won't underestimate them.
"I think the boys are focused on the Champions League. They are completely focused on reaching the final again this year."

by www.espnstar.com/football Friday 29th August 2008

Roddick joins forces with Davis Cup captain McEnroe

AFP/File Photo: by news.yahoo.com

NEW YORK (AFP) - Patrick McEnroe has donned yet another tennis hat during the US Open as he tries to return Andy Roddick to greatness.

Not only does the busy 42-year-old younger brother of seven-time Grand Slam winner John McEnroe serve as US Davis Cup captain, he also works for the USTA while doing part-time broadcasting. In addition, his wife is again pregnant.
Roddick made the call earlier this month after amicably letting big brother John Roddick off the hook as the elder sibling grew tired of travelling.
Patrick McEnroe will be working with the 2003 Open winner for only this fortnight in hopes of helping Roddick polish a lagging big game which has failed to do major damage in the past few seasons.
"I obviously respect his opinion, and we get along great, and we're pretty close," said Roddick, seeded eighth and into the second round after beating Fabrice Santoro.
"I know his family well, and his baby girl and his wife. But at the same time, he captains our Davis Cup team. So who knows if that's a conflict of interest in any way, shape or form with the other players."
Roddick, who parted company with Jimmy Connors in February after 18 months together, knows that McEnroe can only serve as a short-term solution.
"There's no way he can be Davis Cup captain and coach against one of his (other) players, that's just impossible," admitted Roddick. "It (a permanent arrangement) is not really even worth discussing, because I don't think it's in the realm of possibility."
Roddick said he needed a quick fix, "someone who knew my game, knew my personality."
"It was pretty obvious who would be the best fit to help me out for this, just this tournament."
Roddick is hoping that a gamble to skip the Beijing Olympics in favour of playing North American hardcourt events would pay off big in New York.
"I'll probably get to that decision (on a permanent coach). I have a fair amount of time after this to figure it out."
Roddick said he and his brother parted without rancor. "John's been feeling the effects of the road for a little while. When we first got together, it was temporary.
"He was kind of just helping me out and was going to help, and then all of a sudden it's two and a half years later. I think he was spent, and I was struggling, and so it was an easy conversation. He was just like, 'I'm kind of tapped.'
"It's pretty intense day to day, and I'm pretty intense day to day. But he's been here the whole time, and we've been hanging out, so it's not too big of a deal, and we'll always be brothers."

Man City re-sign Wright-Phillips

Manchester City have completed the signing of their former winger Shaun Wright-Phillips from Chelsea.
England's Wright-Phillips, 26, has signed a four-year contract at the City of Manchester Stadium having rejoined for an undisclosed fee.
He told the club's website: "Obviously I'm delighted to come back to City and I can't wait to get started again."
Manager Mark Hughes added: "I've always admired Shaun and he's been a target of mine since I came to the club."
Wright-Phillips left City to join Chelsea for £21m in July 2005, but struggled to hold down a regular place in his three years in London.
He made only 43 Premier League starts, scoring four times, as he fell out of England reckoning too. To actually secure the deal and bring Shaun back home is a fantastic coup for us," said Hughes.
"I'm sure the supporters will be just as excited as we are to have him back at Manchester City."
In his previous spell at City, Wright-Phillips made 181 appearances and scored 31 times.
He is expected to be presented to the media at a press conference at the City of Manchester Stadium tomorrow.

by http://news.bbc.co.uk

Liverpool captain Gerrard to undergo groin surgery

AFP Photo by England (AFP) , news.yahoo.com

LIVERPOOL, England (AFP) - Steven Gerrard will on Thursday undergo surgery on a groin problem that will keep the Liverpool captain out for ten to fifteen days.


Gerrard played the full game in his side's extra-time Champions League qualifying round victory over Standard Liege on Wednesday night despite having been troubled by the injury for some time.
Manager Rafael Benitez revealed after the game - settled by Dirk Kuyt's volley three minutes from time - that the midfielder had been told he needed the operation before the clash but opted to play despite being in pain.
Benitez said: "Gerrard will have an operation tomorrow on a groin problem. We knew this would happen. He had a problem and now he will have an operation and he will be out for 10 or 15 days. It's not a big problem but he had pain and it was difficult.
"The injury wasn't affected by the period of extra-time. When he went away with England we knew he had a problem, and we knew he had a problem before the first leg in Belgium two weeks ago. Yesterday he spoke to the doctor about the situation and he said 'okay, I'll play with pain and after have the operation'.
"He was playing with pain before and he kept going today because he knew he was going to see the surgeon tomorrow. It's not serious, it's a minor operation, but we needed to do it."
Benitez admitted his side had struggled to overcome the Belgian champions who continued where they had left off in the scoreless first leg tie.
But the Spaniard insisted he could see signs of improvement in his side and believes they will get stronger as the opening weeks of the season progress.
He added: "We knew it would be difficult because they played well in the first game and we had to work really hard until the end. For me the most positive thing is we played a little bit better against a good team who are sharp now. We scored right at the end that showed the team was working really hard.
"When you play these kind of games, the other team is playing and training just thinking about this game. But we have been bringing in players from things like the Olympic games and now we can start working as a group.
"For us to have the possibility to play for the chance of winning trophies it's amazing and really important. And also in terms of money it's the same. If you play at this level you will have more options of winning trophies and of getting money."