Houllier emerges as Villa candidate

Former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier is the latest man said to be in pole position for the managerial vacancy at Aston Villa (Houllier 9/4 with bet365.com).

The Villans are still looking for a new boss after Martin O’Neill’s shock resignation just days before the start of the Premier League season.

Kevin MacDonald (5/4f with bet365.com) has been in charge in a caretaker capacity – to mixed results – ever since, but fans are still no nearer to learning who will lead them this term.

Other names in the frame include former West Ham boss Alan Curbishley after Villa officials said they wanted someone with Premier League experience.

The club’s criteria ruled out USA coach Bob Bradley who has since signed a new deal to remain with the American national side.

Ex-Italy boss Roberto Donadoni is also interested in the post along with former Holland star Ronald Koeman.

One-time England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson can be backed at 12/1 with bet365.com.

Gerrard slams “crazy” Capello talk

Captain Steven Gerrard insists Fabio Capello is still the right man for the England job and says it would be ‘crazy’ to start afresh with a new coach if the games against Bulgaria and Switzerland do not go to plan (England 3/10, draw 4/1, Bulgaria 9/1 with bet365.com).

The Three Lions kick off their Euro 2012 qualification campaign against the Bulgarians at Wembley on Friday night ahead of a potentially tricky trip to Switzerland, who hold the record of 559 minutes for not conceding during consecutive World Cup games.

Asked whether or not Capello has two games to restore the feel-good factor around the England side, Gerrard said: “Will his future decided by these two games? I don’t know. I hope not. I’m not in control.

“It has happened before but hopefully that won’t be the case again. Hopefully we can get two good results and start slowly building for the future.

“There are still good managers out there.

“But it would be a knee-jerk reaction to sack a manager after one bad tournament, then think everything will be rosy when you start with a new guy and we’ll go on and win Euro 2012.”

Gerrard added: “That’s crazy. It’s crazy to think it’s as easy as that.”

England are odds-on to qualify for Euro 2012 and 8/1 with bet365.com to go on and win the tournament for the first time.

Carragher makes PL admission

Jamie Carragher says Liverpool will give their all to have a successful season (7/4 with bet365 to finish in the top four) but he admits challenging for the Premier League title may well again prove beyond them.

Carragher will enjoy his charity testimonial against Everton at Anfield this weekend – a game that is set to feature former Liverpool players Michael Owen, Emile Heskey, Danny Murphy, Jerzy Dudek and Luis Garcia.

The Reds defender admits it is a source of frustration for him that he has not won the title with the club he has served so well since 1997, but he remains as focused as ever to try and add the elusive medal to his collection before he retires.

“People have said ‘You’ve done this and that for Liverpool’ but we’ve not won a trophy for four years and that is annoying me a little bit,” Carragher said.

“I certainly don’t want to go on another couple of years not winning one before I finish at Liverpool. I don’t see any reason why we can’t win a trophy this season or the next couple.

“The one I haven’t won is the league but I suppose that will be very difficult this season going from seventh last season. But I see no reason why we can’t have a good go and have a trip to Wembley.”

Next up for Liverpoo (11/10) is a trip to Birmingham (11/5) a week on Sunday.

Holloway lands Black Stars keeper

Blackpool have announced the signing of Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingson on a free transfer (Blackpool 1/3  To Be Relegated with bet365.com).

Seasiders boss Ian Holloway has now drafted in a whole new side since promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs in May.

Matt Gilks has been playing in goal for Blackpool with Paul Rachubka out injured, so Holloway needed cover as he looks to defy the odds and keep his side up.

The Seasiders have taken four points from their opening three games to make a better start than Fulham, Wigan and Everton – although Blackpool face Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City over the next six weeks so the table could look very different.

Kingson, 32, starred for Ghana at the World Cup as the Black Stars reached the quarter-finals which was the furthest any African side managed in South Africa.

He has Premier League experience from spells with Birmingham City and Wigan.

Kingson has made 83 appearances for Ghana and has scored one goal – a penalty against Tanzania in 2008.

Blackpool travel to Newcastle when the Premier League resumes after the international break on Saturday September 11 (Newcastle 40/1 – Top Four Finish with bet365.com).

Carson adds to Capello’s woe

Goalkeeper Scott Carson is the latest player to drop out of England’s squad to face Bulgaria in Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier (England 3/10, Bulgaria 10/1, draw 4/1 International Coupon with Stan James) due to a family bereavement.

Three Lions coach Fabio Capello has drafted in the uncapped Watford and England Under-21 keeper Scott Loach to replace the West Bromwich Albion custodian in the squad for the game. However Carson could return for the second qualifier against Switzerland in Basle next Wednesday.

England (11/2 Euro 2012 Not To Qualify with Stan James) face a tough task to get their qualification campaign underway with a winning start in the games this week as they are already without injured Chelsea duo John Terry and Frank Lampard. A back injury has also ruled Tottenham striker Peter Crouch, but defender Phil Jagielka and keeper Ben Foster should be okay to stay with the squad after resuming training.

Curbishley emerges as Villa candidate

Alan Curbishley has emerged as the potential new boss of Aston Villa (4/1 – Next Permanent Manager with bet365) following reports that he was interviewed for the position on Wednesday.

The 52-year-old former Villa player has not been in management for two years after leaving West Ham, but it is claimed he has thrown his hat into the ring for the chance to replace Martin O’Neill at Villa Park.

Caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald (5/4 favourite – Next Permanent Manager with bet365) has already confirmed that he would like the job on a full-time basis.

However Villa owner Randy Lerner is thought to be keen on appointing a man with Premier League experience and that could sway him towards Curbishley, who enjoyed an impressive stint in charge of Charlton whom he consistently kept in the top flight on a shoe-string budget.

Dutch legend Ronald Koeman is also interested in taking the job as Villa hope to make an appointment before the game at Stoke (Stoke 13/10, Villa 15/8, Draw 9/4 – Full Time Result with bet365) following the international break.

United include crocked star in 25-man list

Manchester United have included Owen Hargreaves in their 25-man Premier League squad despite concerns over  the midfielder’s fitness (United 9/4 to win the Premier League with stanjames.com).

Hargreaves has managed just one substitute appearance in the last two years as he continues to struggle with a tendinitis problem in his knee.

There had been speculation the former Bayern Munich man could miss out on making the 25-man cut, meaning he would have to wait until January before he could play in the league, but Manchester United have now confirmed he has been included.

As yet there is no return date pencilled in for Hargreaves, who returned to America last month to see a specialist in order to find a solution to the long standing problem.

Meanwhile, defender Rio Ferdinand will make his comeback for the reserves on Wednesday as he continues his recovery from the knee ligament injury that ruled him out of this summer?s World Cup with England (United 1/33 to finish in the top four with stanjames.com).

Whelan eyes automatic qualification

Republic of Ireland midfielder Glenn Whelan had made qualifying automatically for Euro 2012 his top aim ahead of the nation’s first qualifier against Armenia (4/1 to beat Ireland with Stan James).

Giovanni Trapattoni’s men start their campaign this week looking to make amends for narrowly missing out on reaching this year’s World Cup.

Ireland came within minutes of going to penalties against France in their World Cup qualifier before Thierry Henry’s handball set up William Gallas to score the winner and send Les Bleus to South Africa.

This time around Stoke midfielder Whelan is keen to avoid going into the play-offs and instead wants to secure top spot in Group B to make sure of qualification.

However, they have been placed in a tricky group and are only second favourites to win the group, with Russia 4/7 to top the table with Stan James.

Slovakia, Macedonia and Andorra make up the rest of the group and Whelan accepts it won’t be easy to make sure of automatic progress to Ukraine and Poland.

“Because of what happened in the last campaign, everyone was just hoping for this to come around as soon as possible,” said Whelan.

“Hopefully with this campaign here, everyone can forget about what happened in Paris.

“We are not going into any campaign thinking, ‘Let’s go for second’. We are definitely going for top and hopefully that’s the case.”

Crouch adds to Fabio woes

England (2/7f with Stan James to win Group G) will be without Peter Crouch for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland.

The Tottenham striker suffered a back injury in his club’s 1-0 defeat to Wigan on Saturday and has now been forced to withdraw from the squad.

It’s the latest setback for Fabio Capello, who is already without the services of Frank Lampard, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Bobby Zamora.

There were more concerns for the Italian on Wednesday, with defender Phil Jagielka and two of his goalkeepers missing Tuesday’s training session.

Ben Foster and Scott Carson were absent due to knee and back problems respectively, leaving Joe Hart as the only fully-fit shot-stopper (England 8/13 to keep a clean sheet v Bulgaria).

Both players are expected to be fit for the weekend (England 3/10, Draw 4/1, Bulgaria 10/1 – Match Betting), but Watford’s Under-21 keeper Scott Loach is on standby.

Meanwhile, Everton’s Jagielka, who is tipped to start against Bulgaria on Saturday, missed the session with an ankle injury.

Big-spending Bundesliga boys collide

Schalke (13/8 on Bet365 Elite Euro Coupon) and Hoffenheim (6/4) splashed the cash on transfer deadline day in Germany and the unfashionable duo will face off when the Bundesliga resumes after the international break.

Schalke coach Felix Magath sanctioned lavish spending from the once cash-strapped club on Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Spanish midfielder Jose Manuel Jurardo and French defender Nicolas Plestan.

Huntelaar admitted he didn’t want to leave Milan but felt he had to seek pastures new after the Rossoneri recruited Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a season-long loan from Barcelona, while Jurardo said his offer was “too good to refuse”.

The Gelsenkirchen club are bidding to end a 52-year wait for the Bundesliga title to return to their trophy cabinet, but are off to the worst possible start with back-to-back defeats.

They can get back on track a week on Friday when they visit ambitious Hoffenheim, the tiny club who led the Bundesliga at Christmas two seasons ago.

Hoffenheim paid Reading £6million for Icelandic internaional midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson and look set to include him for the Schalke clash.