Gamblog.co.uk - Gambling & Casino Blog

Online Slots vs. Traditional Slots

The way we see it, the difference between slot machines offered by online casinos and the slots available at traditional gaming venues is pretty much insignificant. With the game being a game of luck, not requiring any exceptional gaming skills in order to win, it does not really matter where you play. You just push the ‘Spin’ button and hope to land a winning combination of symbols. Whether you do it in a B&M casino or over the Internet has practically no difference.

When compared to the history of other casino games, such as the centuries-old Blackjack or Roulette games, the history of slots seems to be rather short. In 1887, a man by the name Charles Fey developed the very first prototype of the modern slot machine. Although Fey was not the first one to come up with the concept of playing a slot machine, history will forever credit him as the Father of Slots.

Fey created a very simple mechanism. The device had three spinning wheels featuring five different symbols on them: diamonds, hearts, horseshoes, spades and a Liberty Bell. The slot machine, which was called Liberty Bell, was a smashing success and very soon many public establishments placed at least one such device on their premises. Although the payouts were largely insignificant, slots enthusiasts started playing regularly.

Naturally, lots of things have changed since then. Today, the vast majority of slot machines are computerized. The modern slots use preprogrammed random number generators (RNG) that manipulate winning symbol combinations. And, with the invention of the World Wide Web over two decades ago, slot machines have become instantly accessible to all players around the planet.

Much like weve already mentioned, slot machines are a game of luck. This means that there are virtually no rules to successful slots play. However, this does not mean that, over the years, some valuable gaming strategies have not been developed. For instance, smart money management is always a good strategy to apply. Slots can sometimes make you lose track of time or gambling funds. Be sure that you do not gamble away your last dollar.

Additionally, prior to playing, try to find out as much as you can about the slots of your choice. Information regarding payback percentage as well as winning probabilities is of critical importance and should never be ignored. Finally, it is best that you play the machines that normally pay out between 95%-99%. Statistical research shows that these machines are much looser and, therefore, more profitable.

Good Luck!

The Carling Cup started last night and as usual the first round was filled with sock results.

Leading the way was Yeovil`s 1-0 Win at Charlton. The London club have been the subject of several giant killing acts in recent years and last night was no exception with a Warne goal late into the first half being enough to see the league 1 side progress.

Two penalties for Crewe were enough to see them defeat Championship side Barnsley last night,whilst crisis club Luton will be hoping to draw a Premiership team at home in round 2 after they beat another Championship side, Plymouth 2-0 at Kenilworth Road, the cash strapped side would welcome a decent cup run to help their situation.

The shocks continued with League 2 side Macclesfield beating yet another Championship side Blackpool also 2-0 with goals from Brisley and Gritton, in a match that saw one player from each side seeing red.

Roberto Di Matteo the new boss of MK Dons was delighted with his sides 1-0 victory over yet another championship side this time Norwich City with a Baldock goal being enough to see the draws progress into round 2.

To complete a disastrous night for Championship sides in general Doncaster Rovers newly promoted from league one and coming into the match on the back of a 10 win at Derby at the weekend were sent crashing out of the competition by league 2 side Notts C thanks to a goal in extra time.

But surely the biggest surprise was Rotherham`s penalty in at Hillsborough. Sheffield Wednesday had beaten Burnley 4-1 in the league on Saturday whilst the league 2 outfit have been hit with a 17 point penalty. However they showed great resilience and scored in the last minute of extra time to level the match before going on to win the penalty shoot out 5-3.

There are 4 games left to be played tonight and each is a potential banana skin for the high league side with Coventry entertaining league new boys Aldershot, Notts Forest at home to Morecambe, Sheffield United at home to Port Vale and Birmingham at Wycombe,.

I for one will not be spending any of my hard earned cash on predicting the outcome of these matches, but if a lesson is to be learnt from the volume of shocks from last night is that the higher league sides especially those in the Championship need to look closely at their selection policy for these games, after all a good cup run is financially beneficial to the club and gives the fans a boost, but then when have clubs cared about their fans!!!

It would appear that Dimitar Berbatov`s proposed move to Manchester United could at last become reality with the champions allegedly tabling a £28 million bid for the Bulgarian International.

New boys Hull who are looking to strengthen their strike force and have been linked with former Birmingham striker Walter Pandiani who is at present with Spanish side Osasuna. However they could face opposition for the Uruguayan`s signature from fellow Premiership side Fulham who are rumoured to be prepared to listen to bids for Northern Ireland forward David Healy.

Aston Villa are looking to increase their pool of English players with a bid for Newcastle midfielder James Milner who is valued at around £6 million.

Gareth Southgate is alleged to be preparing a bid for Arsenal full back Justin Hoyte, who has been a long term target and was watched by Middlesbrough`s scouts at the recent Amsterdam tournament.

Michael Phelps booked his place in Olympic history in the early hours of this morning a he won his 4th and 5th gold medals of these games and his 10th and 11th golds in total.

The American won the 4th gold in the 200 metre freestyle setting yet another world record and having to over come the disadvantage of having his goggles fill up with water on the last length.

The 5th gold came in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay with yet another world record being smashed.

The chances now of Phelps beating fellow American Mark Spitz`s 36 year old record of 7 golds in one games must now be a real possibility.

Britain added to their medal total yesterday with bronze for the British team in the equestrian event, and David Florence winning a silver in the men's kayak slalom event, and early this morning Emma Pooley won silver in the women`s cycling time trial to add to the gold Nicole Cooke won in the women's road race.

One of the feel good stories from the games so far came in the canoeing yesterday when Benjamin Boukpeti laid claim to be the 2nd most famous Togo sportsman when he picked up his countries first ever Olympic medal when finishing in bronze medal position in the men`s K1 slalom final, he was so delighted at the end of his run that he snapped his paddle in half! Hopefully the Togo canoeing association carry spares!

America`s Michael Phelps made it 3 gold medals from 3 events in his search to win 8 Gold and break Mark Spitz`s record of 7 gold set in the 1972 Munich Olympic.

Phelps won the 200 metre freestyle in a world record time, finishing nearly 2 seconds ahead of
South Korea's Park Tae-hwan in a time of one minute 42.96 seconds. Peter Vanderkaay of the USA took bronze.

On the tennis court yesterday Andy Murray who was one of Britain`s hopes for a medal was surprisingly beaten in the first round on the men`s singles in straight sets by Taiwan`s Lu Yen-Hsun. The British number 1 looked strangely listless throughout the match and Lu the World number 77 won 7-6 6-4.

However Murray managed to raise his game in the men's doubles partnering brother Jamie to victory over Canada`s Nestor and Niemeyer in 3 sets. Also in the doubles defending champions
Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu of Chile lost in the first round to Russian pair Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny.

Returning to the pool Britain`s youngest Olympian at the games 14 year old Tom Daley and his partner Blake Aldridge finished 8th in the Men`s 10 meter Synchronised diving competition in an event which saw the Chinese pair dominate from literally the first dive.

Mark Hughes who only joined Manchester City in the Summer from Blackburn is the centre of rumours concerning his future at the club as a result of the on going problems which beset City owner Thaksin Shinawatra.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the former Thai Prime Minister in his native country after he failed to attend a court appearance, and rumours are flying about his continued involve meant with the club.

Also it is alleged that Hughes is becoming increasingly frustrated with what he feels is his lack of information on the situation within the club, a position he is not familiar with in his time at Rovers.

Rangers seem to already to be paying the price for the failure to secure a place in this seasons Champions League competition with the news that Aston Villa have agreed a fee with then to take Spanish defender Carlos Cuellar to Villa Park.

The fee is thought to be around £7.9 million and the move was sparked when the Spaniard invoked a release clause in his contract. There is no doubt that the loss of Cuellar will be a major blow to Walter Smith as he was a key figure for Rangers in their run to the UEFA Cup Final last year.

Another day and yet another midfielder linked to Arsenal! This time it is Marseille`s Lorik Cana, but the asking price of £20 million is almost certain to end any interest from the Gunners especially with other targets higher on Wenger`s wish list.

Meanwhile the hopes of Manchester United and Spurs to land European Championship top Scorer David Villa seems to have taken a knock with the Spaniard claiming he is in no hurry to leave Valencia and move to the Premiership.

Chelsea are it would appear preparing to make a world record bid for AC Milan player Kaka. The bid said to be in the region of £78 million if it were true would be too tempting an offer for the Italian club to turn down especially considering the fact that they have no Champions League football too look forward to this season.

At Spurs it would seem that manager Juande Ramos is set to take a firm stand with striker Dimitar Berbatov and make him stay at the Lane for at least another season, if this is true it could lead Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson into a surprise move for ex Arsenal legend Thierry Henry as he needs to strengthen his depleted strike force.

Arsene Wenger`s search for a new midfielder to strengthen his side continues and the latest name to be linked to the Emirates is Real Madrid`s talented Ruben De La Red who starred for Getafe in their UEFA Cup run last season whilst on loan to them.

25 year old Rebecca Cooke from Wales claimed Team GB`s first gold medal of this Summers Games when she won the Women`s Road Race in appalling weather conditions yesterday.

Rain showers turned the event into a lottery and there were several crashes as the wet conditions made the surface treacherous in the 126 kilometer race, however Cooke who finished 5th in the same race in Athens in 2004 was in no mood to be denied.

In the final dash to the line it seemed the Welsh girl may have lost her chance as she seemed to drop of the back of the leading 4 or 5 riders, whoever she caught her second wind and stormed to the front with about 100 meters to go and held of the challenge of Johansson of Sweden and Guerzo of Italy.

Britain also struck gold in the pool in the early hours of this morning when Rebecca Adlington won the women`s 400 meter freestyle with a late burst to deprive favourite Katie Hoff of the USA to add to the success Jo Jackson came through to give Britain an unexpected bronze.

Britain`s Women`s Archery team were also close to a medal yesterday but however lost out to France in the Bronze medal shoot off after being beaten by China in their Semi Final.

With Gareth Barry`s on/off transfer to Liverpool apparently n the off position for the time being at least, rumours coming out of Anfield are linking them with a move for Valencia`s David Silva.
The Spanish winger was an integral part of Spain`s success in the European Championship`s during the Summer and despite rumours to the contrary from the Spanish club they are allegedly not on the soundest financial footing at the moment and could be tempted by the right offer.

Arsene Wenger the Arsenal boss is still searching for reinforcements for his midfild before the transfer window closes on the 31st August and has been linked with a series of players. The latest name circulating round the Emirates is that of Manchester City youngster Michael Johnson who is reported to have turned down an improved contract from the Blues and could be available for around £8 million.

Another manager in search of reinforcements this time up front is Everton`s David Moyes. The Scot has let Andy Johnson go to Fulham and now has a gap in his squad which it is rumoured he would like to fill with CSKA`s Brazilian forward Wagner Love but it could take a club record bid to see him at Goodison Park.

Championship: At 12:45 yesterday Birmingham and Sheffield United kicked of at St Andrews to start new season off, As expected the game itself was a tight affair and it took an injury time goal from substitute Kevin Phillips to seal all 3 points for Alex McLeish`s side.

Elsewhere in the division one of the pre season favourites for promotion last season FA Cup finalists Cardiff needed a last minute goal from Roger Johnson to see of the challenge of Southampton 2-1, and a last minute gaol also gave Bristol City 3 points on a 1-0 at Blackpool.

Derby, who last season set all the wrong type of records when being relegated from the Premier League look to have picked up where they left f by losing to promoted Doncaster Rovers 1-0 at Pride Park. Manager Paul Jewell must be a worried man even at this stage of the season.

The division`s money club Q.P.R. started their quest for Premiership football by coming from behind to beat Barnsley 2-1 at Loftus Road. Whilst another London club with promotion aspirations Charlton had a 2-0 win against Swansea City.

In the other games played yesterday in the division, Coventry started off with a 2-0 win against Norwich, Neil Warnock`s young Palace side fought out a 0-0 encounter with Aidy Boothroyd`s Watford,Ipswich who last season were almost unbeatable at home lost 2-1 at Portman Road to Preston who hope to make up for the disappointment of last season,Plymouth held another promotion hopeful Wolves to a 2-2 draw at Home Park, and finally Sheffield Wednesday for so long under achievers won 4-1 against a Burnley side who many had rated as outside promotion hopefuls.

So 1 down 45 games to go and it will be interesting to look back at this at the end of the season when the issues have been settled to see early promise developed into long term success.

Spain continued it`s remarkable Summer of Sporting success when Samuel Sanchez gained Spain`s first medal of any kind in this event by winning the Men's Road Race event.

The 245 kilometer race was gruelling and only 97 of the 140 plus starters finished the event wit all of Britain`s competitors failing to compete in the extremely humid conditions.

The silver went to David Rebellin of France with bronze going to Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.

The first Gold medal of the 2008 Olympics was won on the shooting range when Katerina Emons of the Czech Republic won the Women`s 10 meter air rifle 3 position event from Lioubov Galkina of Russia and Snjezana Pejcic.

At the end of the first day with only 7 gold medals up for grabs host nation China topped the medal table with 2 golds, the first in women`s weightlifting and the other in the Men`s 10 meter air pistol event.

Rumours coming out of Anfield are that manager Rafa Benitez is unhappy with the perceived lack of support from the board in financing a move for Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry. The Villa ace had been Benitez`s long term target but the deal has seemed to of finally collapsed.

Arsene Wenger is still keeping an eye on Swiss international Gohan Inler who is at Udinese in an effort to give a bit more steel to his midfield before the big kick off. The Italians have constantly denied any approach for Inler but Wenger has been an admirer since the midfielder acquitted himself well during this Summer`s European Championships, and Udinese could find it hard to resist a good offer from the Gunners.

Alex Ferguson could land one of his main Summer targets if rumours are true, if as seems likely Dimitar Berbatov signs for the champions next week. SirAlex needs to strengthen his attack with Ronaldo out till at least he end of September, Saha rumoured to be in talks with Sunderland and Rooney only just recovered from a virus.

The 2008 Olympics kicked of on the 8th day of the 8th month at 8.00 pm to provide a symmetry that hopefully will continue throughout the 16 days of the World`s greatest Sporting event. The number 8 is traditionally a lucky number in China and was key to the date of the opening ceremony.

The people of Beijing put on a spectacular show in from of many of the Worlds leaders and an estimated World wide television audience of 4 billion.

The British team was lead into the arena by veteran swimmer Mark Foster, whilst the giant 7 foot 6inch NBA Basketball player Yao Ming had the honour of leading the hosts in.

203 countries will compete in the Games this time in what many predict as far is Sport is concerned will be a top quality event.

In a Summer of protracted transfer deals the long running saga of Gareth Barry`s proposed move to Liverpool seems to have taken another twist with speculation that Liverpool may be forced to pull out of the move as they are unable to fund it.
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has seen a proposed move from Hamburg for Dirk Kuyt come to nothing and now seems to be in a position where he cannot sell Xavi Alonso as he has injury doubts over Steven Gerrard.
They door may now be open for Arsene Wenger to make a move for the England man.

Chelsea are reported today to have put in a bid for Real Madrid and Brazil forward Robinho said to be in the region of £20 million. Robinho has been about as popular as Ronaldo in Madrid with his constant statements of his desire to move to the Bridge and it seems likely now that he will get his way and link up with Scolari after his participation n the Olympics.

Another want away player Andre Arshavin of Zenit St Petersburg is allegedly reported to have threatened strike action if he is not allowed his dream move to Spurs, (actually he must dream a lot as he also had the same dream about Barcelona and Arsenal!). However Spurs may withdraw their interest in the Russian midfielder if Zenit do not drop the asking price which is said to be in the region of £19 million.

As mentioned yesterday it seems likely that later today Bournemouth will have to start the season with a 17 point deduction if they wish to keep their place in the League.

As in the case of Rotherham who had a similar punishment inflicted on them yesterday the Cherries who had 10 deducted last season which ultimately cost them their position in League 1 have not satisfied the league over set criteria regarding the clubs financial position.

Bournemouth kick off their league 2 campaign tomorrow at home to Gillingham provided they agree to the leagues conditions.

The Men`s Olympic soccer competition kicked of yesterday, and after all the fuss over weather Leo Messi would play for Argentina in the Games, he finally turned out for the national side and produced a match winning performance in their 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast.

Messi got the first goal midway through the first half and an Argentinian side that included Juan Riquelme and Javier Mascherano looked set to dominate. However the Ivory Coast fought back and equalised throgh Cisse early into the second half.

The game looked like it was heading for a draw till Acosta finished another Messi move.

The other game in group A saw Australia draw 1-1 with Serbia.

Group B saw only one goal in the 2 games played with the USA coming out 1-0 victors over Japan and Holland drawing 0-0 with Nigeria.

Group C the one containing host nation China and tournament favourite Brazil was more eventful with the much vaunted Brazilians who include in their ranks Ronaldinho,Robinho,Lucas,Diego,an Rafinha struggled to overcome Belguim 1-0 in a game which saw 2 Belguim players sent off.
New Zealand produced something of a mini shock in the other game in this group drawing 1-1 with China after leading till late on in the match.

The final group saw Italy make short work of Honduras 3-0 and South Korea draw 1-1 with Cameroon.

Top referee Mark Clattenburg has been suspended following reports of his alleged debts. He was due to take charge of this coming weekends Community Shield match between Manchester United and Portsmouth but the game has now been handed to Philip Walton instead.

The problem stems from alleged debts on his company which was wound up this week and the decision by the FA and Referees Union was taken in the best interests of Clattenburg.

Following on from the 30 point penalty inflicted upon Luton Town last month it looks increasingly likely that Rotherham United will be docked 17 points due to failure to reach an agreement with their creditors.

The situation is further worsened by the fact that they will be plying their home matches for the foreseeable future at the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield. Rotherham have been beset with financial problems for a couple of seasons and were last term deducted 10 points for the same reason.

The future of Bournemouth will be decided at the end of this week with the Cherries also likely to have points taken from them and if it is a similar amount to that of Rotherham which it is likely to be the relegation battle to the Conference already looks like a 3 horse race provided all 3 clubs involved survive that long.

For the sake of football and lower league football and fans in particular i hope they do.

Britain's medal hope for the forthcoming Olympics which start in Beijing tomorrow was dealt a major blow when one of their best hopes for Gold in Boxing Frankie Gavin was forced to withdraw from the lightweight division as he was unable to make the weight in the category.

Gavin who is the reigning World amateur champion at this weight and who had beaten every opponent in this class that was due to compete in the division is understandably devastated, but Olympic rules state that a boxer must make the correct weight one every day at he is due to fight at the games and this was something that Gavin could not guarantee.

Roy Keane the Sunderland boss stepped up his search for a striker to replace the injured Kenwynne Jones with a reported bid for Blackburn Striker Benni McCarthy, with rumours of discontent coming out of the Rovers camp since Paul Ince took charge the South African could be interested in a move. This rumour follows on from the alleged move made by Keane for Manchester Uniteds injury prone forward Louis Saha.

Liverpool who are still looking to off load players to raise money to buy Gareth Barry from Villa have seen German side Hamburg lose interest in a move for Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt after the Anfield side priced the all action forward at £16 million pounds, Hamburg have money to spend as a result of Rafael Van Der Vaart`s move to Real Madrid but will now probably look for a cheaper option.

Martin O`Neill is wasting no time in trying to resolve the full back crisis he has as a result of Wilfred Bouma`s injury with alleged bids for Reading`s Nicky Shorey and Middlesborough`s Luke Young who are valued at £5 and£4 million respectively.

It would appear that with the sale of Robbie Keane and the possible departure of Dimitar Berbatov that Spurs are being linked with every forward with two legs!!! The last two names to be linked with the North London outfit is Diego Forlan of Atletico Madrid and Dean Ashton of West Ham. Both would be good additions to what is becoming a very strong Spurs squad (remember this is coming from an Arsenal man!) But with Darren Bent being in such great form with 9 goals in 4 friendlies and Berbatov still at the club Ramos may hold fire till nearer the end of the transfer window before going into the market again.

The signing of Rafael Van Der Vaart by Real Madrid from Hamburg could bring closer the departure of Robinho to Chelsea. The Brazilian star seems to be doing a"Ronaldo" by telling anyone who will listen how he admires Chelsea and in particular coach "Big Phil" Scolari which will not win him many popularity contests in the Real dressing room and it seems that it will be when not if he joins Chelsea.

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson seems finally to have landed Andy Johnson from Everton for a reduced fee after complications found during his medical and it could prove to be a very shrewd signing as Johson at his best is one of the sharpest and most underrated forwards about.

Everton may well spend some of the fee they receive from Johnson`s move on bringing Alan Smith to Everton from Newcastle. The former Leeds and England man seems to have lost his way at St James Park and a move could well be the thing he needs to re launch his career that has stalled since his horrific injury during his time at Manchester United.

3 months ago Rangers were playing Zenit St Petersburg in the final of the UEFA Cup at the City of Manchester Stadium, yet last night they were beaten 2-1 by FBK Kaunas of Lithuania to go out of Europe before their League season kicks off.

Rangers were playing the game which was so successful last season in Europe with just Kenny Miller up front and for 86 minutes they looked to be heading for the draw they had set out to achieve, however their luck ran out when ex Hearts player Linas Pilibaitis headed in a winner for the Lithuanians who now go into the 3rd Qualifying round to play probably Aab Aalborg of Denmark who hold a 5-0 lead over Modrica.

Rangers went ahead through Kevin Thomas after 33 minutes but the Lithuanians struck back just before half time through Radzius.

How Kenny Miller must be ruing the early chance he had with just the keeper to beat, but succeeded in lifting his effort over the bar, but to be fair Kaunas deserved their win as Rangers approach was unimaginative.

Walter Smith the Rangers coach was his usual honest self in his assessment of the game saying that he offered no excuses for a lacklustre performance, and it is clear that much work needs to be done tactically and moral wise now if Rangers want to challenge Celtic this term but with the money from Europe having disappeared for this season it will be hard to see the Blue side of Glasgow winning the title.

The danger of a strike by referees has seriously put in jepody the start of the new Scottish Premier League season due to start this weekend.

The representatives of the Referees and the SPL meet yesterday without success in an effort to head of the proposed strike and are due to meet again later this week.

The refs had been offered a rise of £25 which would take their fee to £6oo a match but were holding out for £800 if reports were to be believed.

I for one would bite their hands off for a fee like that as i am as blind as a bat and never listen to anyone so i have the perfect credentials!

Craig Bellamy, West Ham`s Welsh forward is a doubt for the start of the Premier League season as he limped off during West Ham`s 5-3 friendly win at Ipswich last night.

The striker had scored after 10 minutes but pulled up later into the first half and was immediately substituted by Hammers boss Alan Curbishley. The injury is yet another in a string for the unlucky front man who was in good early season form after coming back from yet another injury.

One bright spot for the Hammers however will be the form of Dean Ashton who hit a hat trick last night and looks sharp and ready to challenge for an England place this season.

It would seem that Jaunde Ramos`s spending at Spurs is no nearer to stopping as he has now been linked with Valencia`s David Villa. Valencia are loathed to sell their star striker who was Spain`s top scorer at this Summers European Champions but they are known to be in financial difficulties and may find a bid in the region of £25 million too tempting. The funds for the move may well come from Dimitar Berbatov`s long awaited move to Champions Manchester United.

The Gareth Barry transfer saga may well reach a conclusion by the end of the week as Liverpool look to be going in with a bid thought to be in the region of £18 million. Again Rafa Benitez will have to balance the books for the deal and one of the likely scenarios could see Xavi Alonso head to The Emirates.

Fulham`s proposed move for Everton striker Andy Johnson which was held up due to problems with the medical could still go ahead if as expected Everton lower the £13 million asking price for the England forward.

As expected Kevin Pietersen has been given the England test Captaincy after the resignation of Michael Vaughan yesterday. In addition to captaining England in the one remaining test against South Africa at the Oval this week he will also captain the one day side against the same opposition in a 5 game series which follows.

However the selectors seem to have missed a chance yet again to make changes with only Ravi Bopara coming in for Vaughan for the forthcoming test. In my opinion Vaughan though by his own admission was woefully out of form with the bat (only Monty Panesar averaged fewer runs in the 3 tests so far against the South Africans) he was far from the only culprit, and as always the powers that be have sacrificed the captain and now sit back and think everything will be fine, only time will tell but i somehow doubt it.

In a twist to the on-off-on-off transfer saga of Gareth Barry from Villa to Liverpool, the proposed move now alleged to have been sanctioned by Villa boss Martin O`Neill may possibly be a step closer if the rumours circulating are true that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is lining up a move for Liverpool`s Xavi Alonso.

Benitez needs to free up funds to bid for Barry and Alonso was a target of Juventus till the move collapsed. Wenger has been an admirer of the Liverpool midfielder for some time and sees him as the perfect partner for Cesc Fabregas in the Arsenal midfield.

Another Liverpool old boy Djibril Cisse could be on his way back to the Premier League if rumours are to be believed. The Marseille front man was unlucky in his time at Anfield because of injury and he has raised the attention of Manchester City boss Mark Hughes who is in need of strengthening his forward line.

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp the ultimate wheeler dealer is lining up a move for Younes Kaboul of Spurs (obviously Kaboul has checked seismic activity in the Portsmouth area!) and Reading`s unsettled England full back Nicky Shorey and a bid for both players could be placed sometime this week.

Andy Murray clinched his first Masters title yesterday when he defeated Novak Djokovic of Serbia 7-6 7-6 in the Final of the Cincinnati Masters.

Though the scoreline was close Murray always looked more at ease and in control especially on his service games and in the sweltering heat slowly started to wear down his opponent who had defeated new World number one Rafa Nadal in the Semi Final.

The young Scot was a example of control aggressive tennis and Djokovic became increasingly more frustrated as the match went on often looking into the crowd for his coach as Murray turned up the already considerable heat.

The win lifts Murray to a career high in the World rankings of 6 and takes him into the Olympics where he represents team GB as a real medal prospect.

Michael Vaughan ended his 5 year reign as England cricket captain today. The news was announced at a press conference this morning and though one must feel sympathy for the man who has in the past lead England to some memorable victories few can argue hat he has gone at the right time.

The England selectors will name a new Captain tomorrow for the final test against South Africa at the Oval though the early money is on Kevin Peitersen to combine the test job with that of one day captain as Paul Collingwood resigned from that role also.

The selectors are believed to be in favour of the same man doing the 2 jobs and the only concern would be the effect it could have on the form of England's most dangerous batsman.

England lost the third test at Edgbaston yesterday to South Africa by 5 wickets. This is the first time England have lost a test series at home to South Africa since 1965 and must again raise doubts over the captaincy of Michael Vaughan.

Selection issues were to blame for the second test defeat, but one cannot get away from the fact that England were second best to South Africa for a majority of this test in all departments especially batting where Vaughan has to stand up and take his share of the blame.

South Africa were set a target of 281 after Paul Collingwood made a welcome return to form with a top score of 135, and at one stage in their second innings South Africa looked in trouble at 94-4.

However, skipper Graeme Smith steadied the boat and was 154 not out at the end and in the process passing 1,000 test runs for 2008, he was ably supported by Mark Boucher who also was unbeaten on 45.

The England side for the fourth test starting Thursday at the Oval is to be announced later today and lets hope with this series lost the selectors can find the courage to experiment and make changes.

Andy Murray reached his first Masters Final with a straight sets win over Ivo Karlovic in yesterdays Semi Final.

The Croatian who put out Roger Federer in a previous round tried to use his big serve to unsettle Murray in the first set and the tactic looked like succeeding as he went on to break Murray. However the young Scot showed the grit and determination he is fast becoming famous for to break back to win the first set 6-4.

The second set followed a similar pattern but Murray won it 6-4 to set up a final tonight against Novak Djokovic who beat Rafa Nadal also in straight sets in the second semi.

Nadal who has just knocked Federer off the number one spot suffered his first defeat in 33 matches and looked a touch jaded, but that was not to take anything away from Djokovic who seems to be returning to form after a time in the wilderness due to injury.

Today sees the start of the Scottish league programme and i believe there is value to be had in the Ross County v. Dundee game. Though it is always risky tipping in first games of the season the price of 7/4 about a Ross win today is too good for me not to have a dabble with.

Ross won division 2 last season by 7 points from runners up Airdrie United and had a home record in the league of W11 D4 L3 F45 A23 and in the Scottish Challenge Cup 1st round last week knocked out defending champions St Johnstone 2-1 so will not be lacking in confidence.

Their opponents today Dundee were runners up in division 1 last term 7 points behind winners Hamilton and so missed out on a place in the Premier league, however things have not started too well for them this term and they went out in the Challenge Cup last week 2-1 to second division Alloa.

In Dundee`s defence they have had a horrendous list of injuries to key players already this season and will probably be without a recognised Centre Half for the game this afternoon with injuries to Craig McKeown, Gary MacKenzie, Jim Lauchlan also Midfielder Eddie Malone and striker Bob Davidson are also likely to be missing and with a small squad to chose from this is the deciding factor in me going fora Ross win today.

So Ross to continue their good start to the season at best price at time of writing of 7/4 with Ladbrokes hopefully will keep me on a winning tack.

Good luck as ever,

Silverfox.

Arsenal manager Arsee Wenger announced yesterday that William Gallas would keep the captains armband this season.

Many Arsenal supporters, me included were shocked and disappointed by his behaviour at the end of the Birmingam City match last season and felt that his actions destabilised the team at the wrong time, given the youth of the side the sight of their experianced captain sitting on the floor sulking and doing everything but sucking his thumb could not have gone down well in the dressing room.

Apparently however Gallas has learnt his lesson, and hopefully he can lead the team in a manner becoming a captain of Arsenal in what is now a make or break season for the club.

Other news on the Arsenal front is that Togo international Emmanuel Adebayor has apparently pledged to stay at the Gunners and is in the process of signing a new contract. Adebayor will have a lot to prove this season and hopefully he will be up to the task as his messages have been mixed and many supporters are confused.

This may sound like a typical supporter moaning but i have been an Arsenal supporter for over 40 years and the club is always going to be bigger then any player, i am also one of millions of supporters all over the land who love their side and would have given anything to have been in the privileged position to play for them, so hopefully when Mister Gallas and Adebayor next kiss the club badge they really think what it means to wear it.

Spurs are reported to have ended the chase for Russian midfielder Andre Arshavin. The Zenit St Petersburg midfielder was allegedly pursued by several clubs including Arsenal and Barcelona this Summer after his role in getting Russia to the Semi Finals of the European Championships, however the price and wage demands of the club and player respectively seems to have scared most of his pursuers off for the time being, and it is likely now that Spurs will turn their attention to his Russian colleague Roman Pavyluchenko.

Ronaldo`s potential move to Real Madrid was dealt a blow yesterday when the Spanish champions signed Raphael Van Der Vaart from German club Hamburg. The Dutch international was impressive during the European Championships and his fee reported to be in the region of £7 million could turn out to be a bargain. What it means to the Manchester United primadonna is that Real have signed a player who is in direct opposition for a place in the team, and could signal the end at lest for the time being of any proposed move.

Manchester City and Aston Villa got the draws both managers would of been hoping for when the Final round of UEFA Cup qualifying matches were drawn in Nyon earlier today.

City`s reward for their victory against Faroe Island part timers EB in the previous round is a tie against Danish side Midtjylland, whilst Villa who overcame Danish opposition in the Intertoto Cup at the weekend in the form of Odense will be going to Iceland to play FH.

This draw should ensure that both sides reach the first round proper of the UEFA Cup as obviously their opponents will be respected but not feared.

Queen of the South last seasons Scottish Cup runners up to Rangers play another Danish side Nordsjaelland in their first ever foray into European football and it could yet see them go into the next round.

St Patricks of the Eircom league who had a fine 3-0 aggregate win over Olimps of Latvia in the last round will face Swedish side Elfsborg for their efforts.

Other ties of interest involving big clubs not in this seasons Champions League sees Rosenborg who previously seemed to have a season ticket into the Champions league play Djurgarden of Sweden, Besiktas of Turkey taking on Siroki Brijeg of Bosnia, Vllaznia Shkoder (Albania) v Napoli (Italy) APOEL Nicosia (Cyprus) v Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) Deportivo Coruna (Spain) v Hajduk Split (Croatia) and Stuttgart, German champions only 2 seasons ago playing Gyor of Hungary.

Some of the names their proves that the UEFA Cup though much maligned is a competition many clubs are taking a lot more seriously these days.

Not 24 hours after 5 Russian athletes were banned from the Olympics over drugs allegations it has today been announced that the current World number 1 Fencer Italian Andrea Baldini has also failed a drugs test and so will not be taking part in the Games which are due to start a week today.

Allegedly the 22 year old failed the test during the European Championships last month.

At this rate the Olympic Village will soon resemble a ghost town and the worry is that though a few have been caught and rightly suspended how many others have slipped through the net.

For me these Games are already tainted and in my view the only way to control drugs cheats is to ban them for life without appeal. There is no excuse these days for athletes especially at the highest level not knowing what they can and cannot take before competition and so a ban of this severity should make the cheats think twice.

Drugs in any form should not be tolerated and a firm line would send the right message and also give faith back to the thousands of honest athletes who dedicate their live to a Sport they love.

The draw for the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League was made this morning in Nyon and it has been fairly kind to the British sides involved. They all managed to miss the real banana skins of Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray and have been paired with sides that they should manage to overcome over two legs.

Arsenal find themselves facing Steve McLaren`s new charges FC Twente for the right to reach the group phase in a tie the British press will cease upon with great interest, the first leg is in Holland on the 12th or 13th August.

Liverpool too should feel confident of their chances as the travel to Belgium in their first leg to face Standard Liege whilst the reward for Rangers to overcome Kaunas in the 2nd qualifying tie is a two leg match against either Aalborg of Denmark who hold a 5-0 advantage over their 2nd round opponents Modrica.

The pick of the other ties see Schalke 04 v Atletico Madrid, Barcelona v Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow,Juventus v Tampere or Artmedia and Galatasaray v Steaua.

Algerian international Khalid Bougherra left Charlton yesterday to join Scottish Premier league outfit Rangers in a deal estimated to be worth £2.5 million to the London club. He was one of Charlton`s few success stories last season and Rangers beat off a late challenge from W.B.A. to sign the player.

Nicky Maynard, yet another from the production line of young talented players that come out of Crewe has signed for Championship side Bristol City for a fee of £2.5 million pounds. The money will be welcome to the Cheshire side who have one of he best reputations in the country for developing players under the watchful eye of Dario Gradi, who though no longer managing the club has a big say in it`s running.

The proposed move of Russian International Andre Arshavin from Zenit St Petersburg to Spurs could again be on the rails as it would appear that the Russians are holding out for more than Tottenham are willing to pay.

Across the road in Chelsea it seems that "Big Phil" is not yet through spending Roman Abramovich`s money and is set on building his own fantasy league side with a reported bid of £25 million be made for Weder Bremen`s Brazilian midfielder Diego. With the number of midfielders already at the club to say Chelsea could be playing with a packed midfield this season could be an understatement.

Staying in the capital and on the subject of midfielders it seems that Arsene Wenger may well open his wallet before the end of the season after all and one the cloud of moths have cleared the money in it could wing it`s way to Italian side Udinese for Swiss international Gokhan Inler who had a good European Championships earlier in the Summer for the joint hosts.

Manchester City had a comfortable 2-0 win over Faroe Island side EB last night to progress into the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Cup 4-0 on aggregate.

They will find out their opponents in the next round later today when the draw is made in Nyon along with the 3rd qualifying round draw for the Champions League.

The game last night was played at Oakwell the home of Barnsley as the Eastland Stadium is still recovering from the effect of a Summer concert, and only just over 7,000 fans turned up to see the match.

City dominated from the kick off and hit the post twice in the early stages as they pushed forward in an attempt to kill off the game early but at half time the score remained 0-0 as their opposition defended doggedly.

However early in the second half Bulgarian international Martin Petrov scored from a Darius Vassell cross to put City ahead and make it 2 in 2 for him this season. City then had to wait till the final minute to make the score a more respectable one when Darius Vassell finished off sub Ched Evans hard work to make it 2-0.

If this game highlighted anything however it is that Mark Hughes is desperately short of strikers going into the first Premier League game of the season against Aston Villa with new signing Jo at the Olympics with Brazil and Benjani injured and set to miss the early part of the season.

His forward options at the moment consist of Darius Vassell, Bianchi and untried though talented youngsters Ched Evans and Dean Sturridge names which will not strike to much panic into the hearts of league defenders.