Premiership Transfer Window Review - Part Two

David Walker continues his review of the January transfer window and how the moves will impact each teams success, or survival at the end of the 2005/06 season.

Everton
After spending the early part of the season facing a relegation battle the only reinforcements came in the form of Alan Stubbs, joining from Sunderland for his second spell at the club.

Two players have left the club Marcus Bent to Charlton and Per Kroldrup to Fiorentina. The Danish defender arrived in a 5 million switch from Udinese but returned to Italy for substantially less after making just one league appearance.

At 10 points clear, Everton look safe from the drop but you may be tempted by the 33/1 relegation odds.

Fulham
Fulham are battling against relegation and have made five new signings. Goalkeepers tony Warner and Antti Niemi joined from Cardiff and Southampton respectively while New Zealand international Simon Elliott arrived from Columbus Crew. Defender Wayne Bridge and midfielder michael Brown joined from chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur on loan.

Without an away win all season, Fulhams strength and key to survival lies in their form at Craven Cottage. 26 of the 29 points accumulated have come from home wins and manager Chris Coleman will need to keep up this momentum. Fulham can be backed at 14/1 for relegation.

Liverpool
Third in the table and a favourable draw in the Champions League has seen further recruits arrive at Anfield. Defender Jan Kromkamp arrived in a swap deal from Villarreal which saw Josemi return to Spain while Danish defender Daniel Agger cost 5.8 million from Brondby.

A host of fringe players left on loan deals but all transfers were eclipsed by the return of striker Robbie Fowler, five years after leaving Anfield. Fowler scored 120 goals in 236 premiership matches for the Reds previously and with Manchester united wobbling, Liverpool could eclipse them in second position. They are three points behind in third but have two games in hand. Rafa Benitezs side can be backed at 6/5 to win the premiership in the without Chelsea market.

Manchester City
Following a blistering start to the season, City are sitting comfortably in tenth position. manager Stuart Pearce will not stand for half measures and has motivated his side into three wins out of their last four matches, including a 3-1 derby win over bitter rivals united.

Pearce has boosted the ranks with the 6 million signing of Greek striker Georgios Samaras from Heerenveen after allowing Robbie Fowler to rejoin Liverpool and the loan capture of Espanyol midfielder Alberto Riera. Pearces managerial qualities have not gone unnoticed and he is quoted at 20/1 to succeed Sven Goran Eriksson as the next England boss.

Manchester united
The former premiership powerhouses have been exposed yet again this season as being nowhere near chelsea in terms of results, consistency and strength in depth. However, the Glaziers sanctioned the arrivals of Spartak Moscow defender Nemanja Vidic Spartak for 7 million and 5.5 million signing Patrice Evra.

A dire spell in europe has seen them with the Carling Cup one of their only chances of silverware this season although Sir Alex Fergusons side are still 5/6 favourites for the premiership without Chelsea. Strike duo Ruud van Nistelrooy is 5/6 and Wayne Rooney 10/1 to top the premiership scoring charts.

Middlesbrough
One of the pre season outsiders for a top four position, Middlesbrough are now staring relegation square in the face. Boro have won just once in their last 10 premiership outings and that was away at rock bottom Sunderland.

No players arrived in January although Szilard Nemeth left for Strasbourg. One of the few bright spots, striker Yakubu, can be backed at 16/1 to top the premiership goalscoring chart while speculative punters may fancy the 13/2 on offer of relegation.

Newcastle united
manager Graham Souness became the latest premiership managerial casualty after recently losing five of their last six league matches. With just 36 wins in his 83 matches in charge the club are hovering six points above the drop zone.

big money arrivals michael Owen and Alberto Luque failied to ignite an expected charge for European football and former West Ham manager Glenn Roeder and Alan Shearer have taken over the reigns temporarily. Bolton manager Sam Allardyce is the 9/2 favourite to take over permanently and despite a poor run of form the Magpies remain 20/1 outsiders for relegation.

The third and final part of the review will look at transfers involving Portsmouth, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham united and Wigan Athletic.

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Improve Your Golf Short Game

One of the most important areas of your golf is to constantly improve Your Golf Short game. When you consider that 80% of your shots are taken withing 150 yard of the pin, you begin to realize how important it is to always work on improving your golf short game.

The key to improving your short game is to try and stay relaxed. this should not be too difficult since you have just done the hard part - teed off - probably in front of a small audience! Now all you have to do is get the ball to the pin without making any horrifying mistakes.

The also need to be comfortable with your short irons. Consider going to the driving range with only your 5, 7 and 9 irons. Work through each club and find out exactly what sort of distance and height you get when you are hitting them correctly.

Another good idea is to only play with these 3 clubs for your short irons (not including your wedges) until it becomes second nature as to which one you select for different situations. this way, you will not be confusing yourself with too much choice.

Another important aspect of improving your golf short game is to get comfortable with your wedges around the green. many shots can be wasted by hitting the top of the ball with your pitching wedge and sending it into the rough on the far side of the green. this is very frustrating and can cost you many shots on your score.

Make plenty of time to practice with your pitching wedge at the practice green. The key here is to first create 1 set up that you can can use to always guarantee that you get onto the green. Once you are comfortable with this and have used it successfully on a few rounds, mix it up a bit and create 2 or 3 other set ups for different distances and lies.

The key to using your wedges around the green is to not get smart too quickly. These are critical shots and carry a hefty price if they are carelessly executed.

Finally, lets not forget the dreaded bunker shots. Bunker shots are fact of life in your short game. You need to practice these and find the club that suits you best for taking shots in the sand. Always remember that bunker shots are just another shot and don't really need to be feared.

With time and practice, you will see your short game improve. this improvement will dramatically improve your score too.

Find out more about Improving Your Short Game and How To Get Out Of A Bunker, and follow our tips on how to get good with your short irons.

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The Simple Golf Swing Basics

I remember the time when I picked up golf, I wanted to have a swing like tiger woods. Have you heard the saying, "Its better to look good and lose then to look bad and win." No dis respect to Mr Jim Furyk who has an interesting looking re routing motion of his golf swing, which though looks unconventional, still does the job pretty well.

To have a simple golf swing, one that can last 18 holes, and not just the 1st 9, I strongly feel that the basics of golf must be very very sound. Its very hard to replicate a golf swing if there is no consistency in the basics. Things like, grip, Posture, Tilit of the Spine angle, Take away, are the arms dangling down, ball position. If there is no consistency in these areas, its very hard to build a sound and simple golf swing.

1 thing I found very helpful is to watch videos and read ebooks. I think for beginners to intermediates players, learning from ebooks and videos is many times better then hiring a coach. this is because the basics can be picked up quite effectively and when we forget certain concepts (concepts that are actually basic to the expert but are somewhat new to the golf newbie), we can easily go refer back to the material, refresh our golf knowledge then head back to the range to practice that particular golf thought.

As we progress further and when we wish to take things up a notch, then its worth spending the money to hire a good coach, or practice with a close friend, and make sure the take a video of you. Sometimes comments we may not agree with, after watching a video of our own swing, it naturally convinces us the changes we need to change in our swing.

To get started on golf on the right foot and spend 1 year to build a beautiful simple swing, be sure to read alot about the golf swing before heading down to the range. Having the right golf thoughts while practicing will help you greatly!

this is the award winning guide sherman used to build his elegant & yet simple golf swing and http://elegantgolfswing.blogspot.com

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