Lendl Simmons and David Miller were the big winners in the Caribbean Premier League 2016 draft on Thursday in Barbados, going first and second overall to fetch top tier $160,000 contracts. Simmons went to the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, having represented Guyana Amazon Warriors in 2015, while Miller was snapped up for the first time by a CPL team going to the St Lucia Zouks second overall.Miller will team with Shane Watson to fill the void left by Kevin Pietersen, who opted to withdraw himself from the CPL for this season. Sohail Tanvir’s pick at fifth overall by Guyana essentially meant he and Simmons made a straight swap between teams. Chris Gayle (Jamaica Tallawahs), Dwayne Bravo (Trinbago Knight Riders) and Kieron Pollard (Barbados Tridents) were all retained by their franchises in the first round.The six designated marquee overseas players were all taken in the second round beginning with AB de Villiers by the Tridents. He was followed by Martin Guptill, who will switch from the Patriots to the Amazon Warriors for 2016. Brendon McCullum went next to the Knight Riders, Kumar Sangakkara to the Tallawahs, Watson to St Lucia and Faf du Plessis rounded out the marquee picks going to the Patriots.Hashim Amla was taken by the Knight Riders in round four, one pick ahead of Big Bash player of the tournament Chris Lynn by the Amazon Warriors who represented the Tallawahs in 2015. Adam Zampa, who had a breakout season in the BBL with Melbourne Stars to fetch both an Australian call-up and an IPL contract with Rising Pune Super Giants, was taken in the sixth round for $60,000 by the Amazon Warriors.Besides Lynn, other players on the move were Samuel Badree and Brad Hodge, who were swapped up in consecutive rounds by the Patriots; Shakib Al Hasan, who went from the Zouks to the Tallawahs after being taken in the third round; David Wiese, from the Amazon Warriors to the Tridents; and Umar Akmal, from the Amazon Warriors to the Knight Riders; and Dwayne Smith from the Tridents to the Amazon Warriors.Among the overseas CPL veterans in the auction pool who went undrafted were Shahid Afridi, Misbah-Ul-Haq, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Johan Botha. However, Michael Hussey managed to fetch a $90,000 price tag in the fourth round from St Lucia Zouks. He’ll be teammates with Morne Morkel, who was taken in the seventh round for $40,000.One more player that caught most attendees off guard was Kieran Powell, who fetched a $10,000 price tag in round ten from the Patriots. Powell, 25, last played for West Indies in June 2014 and had declared his interest in January to pursue a career in baseball. He recently had a tryout attended by several scouts at the IMG Academy in Florida. However, he did not secure a contract with any Major League Baseball franchise.Ramnaresh Sarwan was also a surprising name plucked in the final moments of the draft going with the first pick in the 15th round to the Knight Riders for $4000. Sarwan last played any form of competitive cricket with Leicestershire in 2014 and hasn’t played any regional cricket in the Caribbean since the 2014 Nagico Super50 with Guyana.Six Associate players were taken in the final round of the draft, all of them representing USA and Canada. The Patriots retained Canada offspinner Nikhil Dutta, who debuted for them last year, and the same went for Florida batsman Steven Taylor with the Barbados Tridents. Canada batting allrounder Nitish Kumar went with the second pick in the final round to the Zouks, followed by fast bowling allrounder Timroy Allen to the Tallawahs, wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq to the Knight Riders and fast bowler Ali Khan to the Amazon Warriors.St Kitts & Nevis Patriots: Lendl Simmons, Faf du Plessis, Samuel Badree, Brad Hodge, Thisara Perera, Jonathan Carter, Krishmar Santokie, Evin Lewis, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kieran Powell, JJ Smuts, Devon Thomas, Shamarh Brooks, Tino Best, Jeremiah Louis, Nikhil DuttaSt Lucia Zouks: David Miller, Shane Watson, Darren Sammy, Michael Hussey, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Morne Morkel, Fidel Edwards, Derone Davis, Eddie Leie, Keron Cottoy, Shane Shillingford, Delorn Johnson, Kyle Mayers, Keddy Lesporis, Nitish KumarJamaica Tallawahs: Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara, Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell, Imad Wasim, Lasith Malinga, Rovman Powell, Chadwick Walton, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Andre McCarthy, Jonathan Foo, Alex Ross, Kesrick Williams, Nkrumah Bonner, Garey Mathurin, Timroy AllenTrinbago Knight Riders: Dwayne Bravo, Brendon McCullum, Sunil Narine, Hashim Amla, Umar Akmal, Kevon Cooper, Sulieman Benn, Colin Munro, Anton Devcich, Ronsford Beaton, Nikita Miller, Javon Searles, William Perkins, Yannick Cariah, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Hamza TariqGuyana Amazon Warriors: Sohail Tanvir, Martin Guptill, Dwayne Smith, Chris Lynn, Rayad Emrit, Adam Zampa, Jason Mohammed, Christopher Barnwell, Veerasammy Permaul, Orlando Peters, Assad Fudadin, Anthony Bramble, Paul Wintz, Steven Jacobs, Steven Katwaroo, Ali KhanBarbados Tridents: Kieron Pollard, AB de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Rampaul, David Wiese, Robin Peterson, Raymon Reifer, Ashley Nurse, Wayne Parnell, Akeal Hosein, Imran Khan, Kyle Hope, Navin Stewart, Kyle Corbin, Steven Taylor

Arsenal winger Theo Walcott has admitted to being disappointed at being left out of England's 23-man squad for the World Cup finals.

Fabio Capello opted to include Shaun Wright-Phillips and Aaron Lennon in his squad that will travel to South Africa on Wednesday evening rather than Walcott, who was a shock inclusion in Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad for the 2006 World Cup.

The former Southampton speedster was the most high-profile absentee from the squad Capello named on Tuesday afternoon.

The 21-year-old, who has endured an injury-ravaged season and failed to impress in the recent friendlies against Mexico and Japan, said:"I am very disappointed not to be included in the squad going out to South Africa, but completely respect Mr Capello's decision.

"I would like to wish the team the best of luck and hope they have a really successful tournament."

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In September 2008, Walcott played a major part in helping England qualify for this summer's tournament when he grabbed a hat-trick in the 4-1 win at Croatia.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Brazilian forward Robinho signed for Manchester City on transfer deadline day on September 1 2008 for a British record transfer fee of £32.5m. After a decent start at Eastlands relations turned a little sour and the player was loaned out to Santos last January, but what would represent the best move for the player now?

The 26-year-old’s fate would have been so much simpler but for his impressive performances in the World Cup when he showed why City decided to splash out so much money on him in the first place. Robinho played five games during Brazil’s campaign, scored two goals and was the spark in a fairly pragmatic Dunga squad.

He also had a successful return to former club Santos on-loan, which led many to believe his fate may be back in his homeland, but now there are calls for him to stay from certain players like Shay Given.

The Citizens’ goalkeeper said:

“I don’t know what his current situation is but there’s no denying he’s had a great World Cup.

“The bottom line is he remains a Manchester City player no matter what’s been written.

“I’d love to see him back at City, he’s gone out and proved a lot of people wrong in South Africa.”

(Daily Mail)

Now manager Roberto Mancini is facing something of a headache, should he convince him to stay, or would Robinho be better off elsewhere?

Many are quick to forget that Robinho’s second season for the Sky Blues was interrupted by injury, his only goal came against Scunthorpe in the FA Cup and he fell down the pecking order before Mancini arrived to ship him out to Santos.

Now that City have added the talents of stars such as David Silva and Yaya Toure to their ranks the club stand a much better chance in challenging the top sides. But it may not be enough to convince him of staying at the club, particularly when they seem willing to ship him out on a season-long loan to Valencia in an attempt to save on some of his £150k-a-week wages…if you can count the Daily Mirror a reliable source, which you can’t.

If they are going to pay such high wages for him surely it is worth taking a gamble on Robinho. It would definitely be worth a potential buyer to take a risk on him, particularly if they can sign him for less than the Manchester club originally paid for his signature.

As Chelsea seek some extra creativity amongst their ranks they may decide to renew their interest in Robinho, who wanted to go from Real Madrid to Stamford Bridge in the first place and even called his own press conference to try and force the move whilst he was still at the Bernabeu club.

However, many would have been unimpressed by what was perceived as cry-baby antics from the Brazilian forward in order to get out of Madrid. Also, he seemingly arrived in England thinking he had signed for Chelsea and it didn’t seem like he had even heard of Manchester City.

Alternatively, if City think they won’t be able to get the best out of the former Real Madrid man then maybe they should cut their losses and sell him on.

Should Robinho have another shot at City, or is it time for him to move on?

**

Follow me on Twitter: ajwilliams1987

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**

Click on image below to see the ITALIAN babes at the World Cup

Manager Roy Hodgson has revealed that Fernando Torres is yet to pledge his future to Liverpool.

The Spain striker, who has been strongly linked with a £50million move to Chelsea this summer, has held talks with club chief executive Christian Purslow following his involvement in Spain's World Cup success.

However, new Reds boss Hodgson has yet to talk to Torres and therefore cannot categorically rule out the chance of him leaving Anfield ahead of the new season.

In recent days club captain Steven Gerrard pledged his own future, while Hodgson also completed the signing of England midfielder Joe Cole.

"Christian Purslow has been talking to Fernando Torres for the last two days so there have been lots of words. But I haven't spoken to him, no," revealed Hodgson.

"I was confident Steven Gerrard would stay with Liverpool because he is the heart and soul of the club.

"It would have been a major blow to lose him. Steven Gerrard has pretty much said he's staying and that's a big boost.

"It was a major day yesterday with the signing of Joe Cole in tandem with Gerrard saying he is staying.

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"Hopefully he will soon be followed by Fernando Torres.

"On Monday most if not all of our players who were at the World Cup will return to training and we can start getting down to some serious work."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Aston Villa's caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald has warned Manchester City that James Milner could yet feature in his side's Europa League clash with Rapid Vienna on Thursday.

England international Milner scored in the 3-0 weekend win over West Ham and is being lined up for further Villa action, with his move to Eastlands still far from certain.

MacDonald told the Daily Mirror:"I won't be naming a Europa League squad until Tuesday or Wednesday. James is a top player and if he's available, I will consider him.

"If we were going to stop him playing then we should have stopped him playing in the Premier League.

"I think there's probably more chance of him getting an injury in a Premier League game because of the physical contact.

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"So I just think if James hasn't gone to Manchester City by the middle of the week, I'm sure he'll want to play, because he just loves playing football as you saw out there against West Ham."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

To say the transfer window (so far) has been uneventful is tantamount to saying the Arctic is a bit nippy, as the majority of Premier League clubs are seemingly being careful with their finances. In some cases clubs simply have to sell before they can buy, much to the frustrations, no doubt, of many managers and supporters.

The lack of spending at the top of the Premier League has surprised many, especially given the open nature of last season’s title race. You would have thought the likes of United and Chelsea would have looked at a big outlay this summer, to ensure the also-rans remain at an arm’s length in their pursuits of the title. Only City have made substantial moves this summer, although you do feel that they may well struggle to strike a balance. This means this season’s race for the title, Champions League and Europa League places are very much as they were last year, unless we witness a major change in the transfer wind in the coming fortnight.

The media is predicting that a transfer storm is set to erupt, but it begs the question as to whether Liverpool really need to partake in some last minute shopping.

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Does Roy Hodgson really need to bring any players in before the transfer window shuts in 16 days time and if so who would you like to see him bring in?

Everyone’s favourite financially savvy family are making a name for themselves again, following the news that four of the Glazers’ US-based shopping malls have fallen into default on their mortgages.

First Allied Corporation, a holding company for the Glazers’ business interests, owns 68 malls throughout the States. In June, four of these were found to have collapsed, with another one defaulting on its mortgage. Recently, however, four more have failed to pay their mortgages, becoming classified as “delinquent”.

Nine of the 68 malls are now, therefore, either delinquent or insolvent. What’s more, another 29 of these are unable to cover mortgage payments because of the number of empty units.

This news comes at a time when the interest on United’s payment-in-kind (PiK) debts is due to rise from 14.25% to 16.25%. Red Football Joint Venture Ltd, the company the Glazers’ used to buy United, recorded United’s total debts at £716million last year, all of which comes from the Glazers’ personal borrowings to buy the club in 2005.

The PiK debts had risen to £202million by June last year, amassing another £34million interest at 14.25%. Rather than being paid off, the interest accumulates, so £236million is now owed. With the increase in interest rate, £38million will be added over the next year, taking the total to £274million (unless some of the hedge fund debt is paid off).

The reason for the increase in interest rates in unknown, but it is thought that it is a penalty because their debts are over five times their basic profit.

David Gill, the chief executive, claims that the PiK debts are the Glazer family’s responsibility, rather than the club’s. It doesn’t appear, however, that the Glazers have the resources to meet these liabilities. Gill and the Glazers have consistently maintained that the club are not restricted by these debts, and Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that he has never been refused money for a transfer.

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Gill, or anyone else involved with the club, is yet to comment on this news. It’ll be interesting to see how he tries to put a positive spin on this one.

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JordanHoose

Blackpool manager Ian Holloway was disappointed with his side's first-half display as they crashed 4-0 at Premier League holders Chelsea.

The rampant Blues went ahead inside two minutes at Stamford Bridge as Salomon Kalou stabbed home from close range and Florent Malouda guided in Didier Drogba's centre soon after.

Drogba got his name on the scoresheet as his deflected effort wrong-footed Matt Gilks in the Seasiders' goal and another fine strike from Malouda added gloss to a sterling opening 45 minute display.

Carlo Ancelotti's team couldn't add to their tally in the second period and, although Holloway was pleased with the response, he was unhappy with the manner of their early capitulation.

"I thought we were absolutely useless first half, but they showed a champion's mentality from the first corner," said Holloway.

"And all our game plan went out the window after a minute or so. I was much happier with the second half but they took the foot off the gas.

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"We drew the second half and created a couple of chances but it was all about pride then, it was too late.

"We're all very proud people here and I thought we would have given them a much better game than that but sometimes you have to say how good they are."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce blamed a defensive 'mess up' for Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Stoke City.

Matthew Etherington capitalised on defensive hesitation to feed Jonathan Walters and his strike settled a hard-fought encounter at the Britannia Stadium.

"The biggest frustration for me is the goal that we conceded here today," said Allardyce.

"It was such an easy defensive position to defend. We don't often see our central defenders mess it up like that to let what was a nothing situation develop into what was then a goalscoring situation which they took and it ended up being the winning goal.

"It is very frustrating to concede that type of goal at that particular time of the game.

"Goals are always difficult for us to come by, we know that, but we have scored in every game and if we had kept that going it would have gotten us a 1-1, but it hasn't happened.

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"Our deficiencies defensively have made it so easy for them to nip through and score, bog standard basic defending has let us down.

"We went the goal down, we changed the system we went to three at the back and switched to a 3-4-3. But we huffed and puffed really without creating a chance."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Blackpool boss Ian Holloway has admitted to being tactically out-thought by Alex McLeish, following his side's 2-0 reverse at Birmingham City.

Goals from Liam Ridgewell and Nikola Zigic gave the Blues their first win in seven league games, while the Seasiders are now just one point above the relegation places, having lost four of their last five games.

Holloway admitted:"I have learned a football lesson. We weren't prepared for what Birmingham did – the balance of their team was excellent and caused us some problems.

"I didn't know they were going to play that way and I didn't tell my team. They stopped our flowing movements and my lads didn't understand, I hadn't told them Birmingham could be doing that.

"Tactically we didn't tell them. It's not that I can't, course I can. I can coach anything. I wasn't anticipating them to do that.

"I want to play them tomorrow, when we play them again, we'll know they are capable of that.

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"I shall have a right good go at my scouting set-up because no-one told me Birmingham play a 4-diamond-2. I've seen them play 4-4-1-1, but that really scuppered us."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email