Football update: Premier League news - Part 3
Newcastle United
Newly promoted Premier league side, Newcastle United have affirmed that Spanish striker Xisco would face a 3 match ban following his harsh send off against Sunderland on Tuesday. Xisco was playing in the reserve game and was shown a straight red card when he flicked out his foot in front of Sunderland’s youngster Jordan Cook. The incident was an off-the-ball one but Newcastle still managed to win against Sunderland at the Stadium of light. Magpies thrashed the Black Cats 3-1 on the night. Xisco’s send off would make him unavailable for games against Blackpool, Everton in the Premier league and Chelsea in the Carling Cup.
Stoke City
Newly signed loan player, Jermaine Pennant has claimed that he never thought of following Eidur Gudjohnsen to Stoke City, following the Icelandic International’s pictures being telecasted. Stoke snapped up the 27 year old winger on the deadline day, which came as a shock for the player himself. The player was sitting in front of the TV, thinking about how good Stoke City’s chances have become following the arrival of Eidur Gudjohnsen and suddenly he found himself packing his bags for England. Pennant has joined Stoke on a season long loan from Real Zaragoza. His arrival at Stoke was very late and there were only minutes remaining for the Premier league deadline to be closed. Some very hasty steps had to be taken for Pennant to be part of the 25 man squad and the player had to make some hurried arrangements to return to his native country.
"One minute I was watching Sky Sports News and seeing Eidur Gudjohnsen heading for Stoke, the next I was making plans to move there myself. I thought at the time that Eidur was a good signing and it made Stoke a very attractive proposition, but I had no idea I would be joining him there later that same day”
The player explained that he got a phone call in Spain seeking his interest in a link up with Stoke and he just said yes.
Sunderland
Black Cats record breaking signing, Asamoah Gyan, has made a good impact on the heart of manager Steve Bruce. The boss claimed that Gyan’s reaction following his penalty miss against Uruguay showed the strength of the forward’s character. Bruce was content of spending 13million pounds on the Ghanaian forward as the player had the much needed character and resilience to make him an impressive player. Gyan failed to convert a last minute penalty against Uruguay, which may have given his side the semi final spot. Gyan, however, made up for his earlier mistake and thrashed home his second penalty of the match in the shootout. His side eventually lost but his services have left a great impact on the World Cup. That performance made Bruce spend all that money on the 24 year old, as Gyan joined Sunderland on the final day of the transfer window. While talking to the media, the manager claimed that he missed a major penalty against Uruguay but managed to recover from that and fired the one in the penalty shootout. Bruce claimed that everyone remembers that moment and Ghana could have made it. Bruce claimed that he has been after Gyan for 3-4 years now but never really had the finances to afford him. Luckily, they had it this year and was delighted to have him the camp.
Tags: