After all of the mid week Premiership action we thought we would feature a game from the Championship to take us into the weekend. This Friday’s late match sees too sides at the wrong end of the table both in great need of a victory.

Doncaster are currently in the 21st position and are just a single point above the drop zone. Their current form however has been pretty good with wins in 3 of their last 4 matches. In their last league match they were defeated by a goal to nil in a tight match with Sheffield United. Last weekend they entertained Aston Villa and earned a replay at Villa Park through a 0-0 draw.

Norwich are 2 places higher in the 19th spot and have only 2 points more. Norwich’s form has been quite the opposite. They have won just 1 in their past 5 fixtures and only manged to take 4 points from a possible 15. They are conceding far too many goals! They are continually scoring 2+ goals and coming away from the game with nothing. Their last league result saw a 2-2 draw with Southampton after being 2 goals in front.

SoccerEngine.net Free Soccer Pick
A draw looks the likeliest outcome here and the price is generous. Under 2.5 Goals.
SoccerEngine.net Verdict:
Draw @ 12/5 Bet365 – £100 FREE BET!
Other Odds:
Doncaster @ Evens Bet365 – £100 FREE BET! 
Norwich @ 11/4 Skybet – £20 FREE BET!

Michael Owen has been left out in favour of Portsmouth strike force Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch. Defoe and Crouch have complemented each other well for their domestic sides so far this season. Jermaine Defoe is so far this year’s top scorer. It is unlikely that the two will start however. Theo Walcott is almost certain to start following his impressive hattrick against Croatia and Wayne Rooney and Emile Heskey are also available.

An attack minded midfield is also expected. Shaun Wright-Phillips is available but the Trio of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry is expected. Joe Cole will be out due to an injury to the foot.

Can England make it 9 points out of 9 and virtually mission accomplished?

But January was just a temporary break in the club’s misfortune. In September 2008 Kevin Keegan resigned from the club due to disagreements with the owners of Newcastle United Mike Ashley and Denise wise. This immediately had an effect on the squad and has left them 2nd from bottom with just 5 points. The Newcastle United supporters have been enraged by what is going on and St James’ Park has been littered with protest for Kevin Keegan’s return. Banners could be seen around the ground and the surrounding areas wanting Ashley and Wise to pull out of Newcastle United.

Ashley and Wise since then have tried to pull out of Newcastle United Football Club. The club has been put up for sale and has been approached by various parties. On the 29th of September a bid was made by a Nigerian organisation but the amount is not yet known.

Today brings more bad news for Newcastle United as Tony Jimenez leaves the club. Tony Jimenez was the vice president of player recruitment and a vital part in the development of Newcastle United. During the short 2008 stay of Kevin Keegan, Jimenez had to take a lot of flak from the fans due to lack of control over player tansfers. At a press conference he said that he would like to “pursue other interests”.

Things are going from bad to worse for Newcastle United and the longer this goes on the harder it will be to escape from.

It is true to say that the majority of the teams in the English Football League are in debt. Most clubs will have multiple financial loans to keep them afloat and will increase the amount borrowed year upon year. In recent times football has become more of a business than a sport and the directors of football clubs will be wanting to see a healthy profit as-well as good results. It is estimated that football is roughly £3 billion in debt and unfortunately this figure is growing. Director of football are not worried by this as it is no a new issue. Money can play a vital part in the success of a football team in today’s game. A prime example of this can be seen in Chelsea. When Roman Abramovich stepped in with his multi billion pound empire and wrote of Chelsea’s debt, employed a new team and invested in a whole hots of new players what followed was back to back Premier League titles. But money in football can have a negative effect. Look at Gretna in the SPL. They climbed 2 leagues in as many seasons to reach the Scottish Premier League but in the top flight they could not afford to pay the accompanying fees and landed them selves so far in debt that it eventually killed them.

This issue has recently come to light however. Lord Triesman the chairman of the Football Association has spoken out about the debt associated with football and warns that today’s economy could have disastrous consequences for football clubs. Lord Triesman’s primary concern is that the £3 billion of debt may not be sustainable and believes that action should be taken to reduce this figure. Triesman blames this financial strife on the ever-changing game and says that it is caused by the bigger clubs in the game providing fans with what they want (super stadiums and unaffordable superstars). Triesman Believes than Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool were at some point responsible for a 3rd of that £3 billion figure.

A contrasting opinion came from the Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore who believes that the debt is sustainable and should not be of any concern. He insists that as long as the debt is proportional to the earnings of the individual clubs then it should not be anything to worry about.

The affects of the credit crunch on English football are not yet known but money ruling the game is becoming more and more apparent every season. Premier League sides are becoming the rich man’s plaything and this brings a certain degree of success against the teams plagued by debt. But we are yet to see what happens to a side when it’s multi billionaire owner pulls out and leaves the club to face the music or what effects the £3 billion debt situation will have as the economy declines.

Players to be left out include Jimmy Bullard, David Bentley, Jonathon Woodgate and Michael Owen.

Joe Cole is out due to an injury sustained in Sunday’s match against Aston Villa.

Chelsea’s Didier Drogba was stretchered off today in their game against Cluj. Drogba dropped to the ground clutching his leg and immediately requested a change. The extent of his injury is not yet know.

Manchester City have not even hinted their interest in the player and late on the final day of the transfer window swooped in with an offer Real Madrid could not resist. The night before Chelsea were confident that Robinho’s move to London was iminent and they have been stunned by the actions of Manchester City.

This mega deal is one of a number of huge signings in the plans of Manchester City’s new owner Al-Fahim.

Berbatov has always made it clear that he would like to make the move but Tottenham have resisted hard. A deal was reached yesterday to the sum of £30.75 million for a 4 year contract. Berbatov has said that this is likely to be the last stop in his career. Tottenham manager Juande Ramos has called for a reduction in the transfer window because of this audeal. Berbatov has been left out of his side for the opening fixtures and believes that this deal has had a big impact on his results. Manchester United have made few transfers this summer but this is surely one of the biggest.

Kevin Keegan has remained quiet on the whole issue and further talks between club and manager are expected to take place. More news as it becomes available.