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WAGS, WAGS, WAGS… the media just can’t get enough of them and as we finish the Premier League season we couldn’t resist creating our very own WAG Idol, to find out which player has the loveliest bit of skirt on his arm.

We are running a series of club heats – so please select the wag that gives your club the best chance of taking the Wag crown.

Just click on the individual images of beauties to upload their galleries, so you can get a look of them in greater detail!

Abbey Clancy – First up is lanky Spurs striker Peter Crouch’s long-term girlfriend Abbey Clancy. The blonde bombshell is one of Liverpool’s finest exports and the model has been flying the flag for England ahead of the 2010 World Cup in a Sports Illustrated shoot. The leggy blonde first caught the eye when she appeared in Britain’s Next Top Model in 2006 and since then she has been the lady of choice for a number of TV and magazine ads. Crouch’s fiancé seems to be down to earth and added to her undoubted beauty makes the Tottenham and England striker one lucky man.

Claudine Palmer – Tottenham striker Robbie Keane is currently away from White Hart Lane as he’s on loan until the end of the season to SPL giants Celtic, but as he’s still officially contracted to Spurs then Claudine deserves her spot here. Keane has been with his missus Claudine Palmer for over six years and the happily married couple seem to have a pretty solid relationship. The Irish model is a former Miss Ireland contestant and the pretty blonde got married to Keane in 2008 in Dublin. But how does she compare to Clancy in the battle of the Tottenham blondes?

Kimberley Mills – David Bentley has profited from an injury to Aaron Lennon in recent weeks to earn his place in the limelight once more after an extended period of time left sitting on the bench, but his long-term girlfriend does an admirable job of keeping herself to herself. However, that means that we haven’t got to see much of Kimberley Mills and that’s a real shame as she scrubs up rather well. The blonde hairdresser did make an appearance in Nuts TV’s Real Footballer’s Wives in one of her few public appearances, but a lack of exposure shouldn’t be held against her.

Imogen Thomas – Although apparently single at the moment (watch out ladies), one of Jermain Defoe’s most recent WAGs was Welsh beauty Imogen Thomas. The 2003 winner of Miss Wales appeared in Big Brother in 2006 and by dating Defoe she became one of many reality TV stars to become a footballer’s WAG. She took the conventional route from reality TV to general celebrity but her relationship with Defoe was always likely to be short lived. The glamour model cited that she preferred to stay at home and with Defoe renowned for hitting the nightclubs their time together was quickly over.

Danielle Lloyd – Lloyd is never one to shy away from the limelight. The former Miss England and Miss Great Britain got into strife in the 2007 edition of Celebrity Big Brother during a race row, whilst more recently she has shown a better side of herself by appearing in a documentary about domestic violence. O’Hara isn’t the only footballer that the often unhealthily tanned Lloyd has been involved with either, with the likes of Jermain Defoe, Teddy Sheringham and Marcus Bent all been seen on her arm over the years.

REMEMBER – Just click on the individual images of beauties to upload their galleries, so you can get a look of them in greater detail!

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So who do you think deserves to be Tottenham’s representative in our search for the greatest Premier League WAG?

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Barcelona are ready to make a move to sign Arsenal midfielder Alex Song this summer, The Sun report.

The Cameroon international has grown in stature at the Emirates Stadium in recent seasons, and as such has become an important figure in Arsene Wenger’s squad.

With Jack Wilshere injured and Cesc Fabregas departing this time last year, Song played a key role in steering the north London club to a third-placed finish last term.

The African midfielder’s progression has not gone un-noticed, and the Catalan giants are weighing up a £16 million bid for the enforcer.

The Camp Nou side’s first choice for a new defensive midfielder is Athletic Bilbao’s Javi Martinez, but the Spain international has made his intention to stay at San Mames clear, and Bilbao are asking an extortionate amount of money for their homegrown hero.

As such Tito Vilanova’s men are turning their attention elsewhere, and Song could be the latest target for Barcelona as they look to win back their La Liga crown next term.

By Gareth McKnight

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Gianluca Vialli is a familiar face in the footballing world. A predatory goalscorer in his time at the top with Sampdoria, Juventus and Chelsea, as well as in 59 caps for Italy, Vialli played in the world’s finest footballing competitions at both club and international level. Over the course of his career, the striker notched up almost 300 senior goals, and won ten senior trophies, including two Serie A titles and a Champions’ League triumph in his final game for Juventus.

All in all, then, Vialli knows a fair amount about football. But how’s his rugby knowledge? In this video, Vialli is quizzed by English rugby legend and TV pundit Will Carling about his knowledge of rugby and asked for a prediction for Italy’s chances at the current 2011 Rugby World Cup. As well as a couple of other comical one-liners, Gianluca opens up about the biggest regret of his career – and it’s one that may surprise you.

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For more news and views from A-List celebrities into Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand, please visit www.thisisthegame.com.

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Heineken is an official worldwide partner of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, as well as Europe’s premier club rugby competition, the Heineken Cup.

Steve Bruce was left deflated by a ‘desperately harsh’ defeat after Sunderland twice gave away the lead to lose 3-2 at Stoke City.

Visitors Sunderland went ahead through Kieran Richardson in their English Premier League encounter at the Britannia Stadium, before John Carew equalised for Stoke.

Asamoah Gyan restored Sunderland’s lead, but this time Robert Huth levelled with seven minutes left.

Centre-back Huth then snatched a late winner for the home side three minutes into extra-time.

“Sometimes it’s cruel when you’ve dominated the game but if you don’t defend properly … we knew what to expect and haven’t dealt with it at all,” Bruce said.

“To score two away from home and not come away with anything is desperately harsh.”

There was a case for offside and fouls to be given in the build-up to the Stoke goals, but Bruce refused to search for excuses.

“There is a debate and you need the referee to be strong, but for all afternoon that didn’t happen.”

“But I’m not going to try and complain, we should be dealing with the ball into the box better than we did.”

“It’s very difficult to replicate it on the training ground. You need the bravery to go and head the ball. You need your goalkeeper to come and catch them.”

Stoke boss Tony Pulis was delighted to see his side fight back to win what was their first match at home since January 15.

“It’s massive, we’ve played four consecutive away games and the spirit of the players is absolutely fantastic,” Pulis said.

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“We gave two silly goals away in the first couple of minutes of each half but we’re very, very pleased with the points.”

Pulis felt that luck evened itself up after a contentious moment in the first fixture between the two teams at the Stadium of Light in November went unnoticed in Sunderland’s favour.

“We played at Sunderland and (Lee) Cattermole flicked it up with one hand and away with the other on the post so whatever we have got today, thank goodness.”

Borussia Dortmund will not sell star striker Robert Lewandowski for less than £35 million, The Daily Mail report.

The Poland international striker has been a key man for the German champions over the last 12 months, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal all linked with a move for the hitman this summer.

With Didier Drogba departing Stamford Bridge this summer the Blues have arisen as Lewandowki’s main suitor, with a speculated £13 million offer being cast aside by the Bundesliga champions recently.

With the west London club splurging on Marko Marin, Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne already this summer, Roman Abramovich will have to break out the chequebook once more if he wants to add the eastern European marksman to his growing list of superstars.

Dortmund want Chelsea to at least double their initial offer if they are to even consider selling Lewandowski, who has seen his stock rise after impressive performances domestically and internationally.

Manchester United were initially the side linked most with the striker but this interest is said to have died down, whilst Arsenal’s purchase of Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud mean they will pull out of the running.

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By Gareth McKnight

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In the transfer market Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City operate at the uppermost level, the upper tier. It is quite clear that Tottenham Hotspur, whilst attempting to work on this level, have found themselves in the back row with a restricted view.

To trade at the top you need money and Champions League football and if you don’t have the latter then you need a lot of the former. Despite their best efforts, Tottenham have neither. Unfortunately this means that the calibre of their transfer targets has dropped.

You can still pick up excellent players but there is always a catch. The most common catch in Tottenham’s case is that these players are old. Consider some of Tottenham’s recent targets: William Gallas is now 34, Brad Freidel is 165 (40), Craig Bellamy 32 and Scott Parker 30. These players may once have been at the tip of the market but those years are some way behind them now, in particular the first 3.

If Tottenham’s targets are not old, then they have a problem at their previous club. (Sometimes they are both old and troubled!) Rafael Van der Vaart was surplus to requirements at Real Madrid, Bellamy and Adebayor are both irreparably out of favour at Manchester City and ‘Mr West Ham’ Scott Parker would now much rather be out of the Championship and operating under the controversial new nickname Mr Tottenham Hotspur.

The lack of Champions league football prevents Tottenham from signing stars who are at the top of the game already, but the lack of money prevents Tottenham even investing in average players in their prime unlike the moneyball movements of League rivals Liverpool who are also operating from this restricted tier of the market, except with a bottomless pit of money to work with.

Liverpool are buying players from the same tier, but the difference is these players are in their prime or likely to improve. Carroll, Downing, Adam, Henderson and Enrique do not require Champions League football now and would not demand it, but they have the potential to improve and mature whilst attempting to qualify. (Only Suarez really looks like a player of the utmost quality.) Liverpool have not done particularly astute business but at least they seem to have a plan. Tottenham Hotspur seem to be chasing the old and unhappy and with every new signing the future seems to look less clear, just slightly more chaotic.

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Of course Tottenham fans can point to the signing of Sandro and the promising youth players now getting a run in the Europa League to suggest that there is young talent in the squad but the fact that Tottenham are struggling to keep up in the transfer market has never been clearer than now.

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West Bromwich midfielder Steven Reid is still hopeful of being involved in his side’s Premier League clash with Wigan on Tuesday.

Reid had knee surgery after injuring himself in the club’s 2-1 home defeat to Manchester United on New Year’s Day.

But the 29-year-old has surprised many with his recovery and is already back in training, with the goal of playing when Wigan visit The Hawthorns next week.

“I’m hoping to get back into full training at the weekend if I do enough with the physios over the next few days,” Reid told the club’s official website.

“I need to be in full training then if I’m to have half a chance of being involved against Wigan.”

“Hopefully, I’ll be involved, touch wood. But I don’t want to push it too much as I only had surgery two-and-a-half weeks ago.”

“It still needs to settle down a little bit. Fingers crossed I’ll be back out there in the next couple of weeks.”

Reid was disappointed when he injured himself in the match, having suffered an injury-riddled last few seasons.

The timing of the injury was also poor, given the fact that Reid had just won a starting place in the side, but despite pre-surgery nerves, everything has turned out well for the former Blackburn player.

“I felt pretty comfortable in the United game. I’d not started a league game for four or five weeks before that. Sometimes it does take a little while to get back into it, but I felt really good.”

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“I was hoping for a little run in the team but, as luck would have it, I picked up that injury and it set me back a little bit. I feared the worst but it wasn’t too painful the next day and there wasn’t much swelling on it.”

“I was a bit nervous going back under the knife. But it was good news and just a little trim of the cartilage.”

Reid also believes his side can avoid relegation, citing the maturity and characters within the squad as a reason as to why they will stay up, as well as mentioning the loyal home support the club gets at The Hawthorns.

QPR have announced that they have completed a deal to bring Ji-Sung Park to the club from Manchester United.

The South Korean midfielder moves to Loftus Road on a two-year deal after seeing first-team opportunities at Old Trafford dwindle.

Mark Hughes is delighted to have signed the energetic midfielder, and feels it is an important deal for the club.

“This is a real coup for QPR,” he told the club’s official website.

“We are delighted Ji is going to join us because his record speaks for itself.

“He has been a big player for Manchester United and played a big part in their success in recent years.

“He is hugely respected there because of what he has achieved, his application to his work and the impact he has on games.

“He was always picked for the big matches because they could rely on him, and we are going to reap all those qualities.

“I think it is fair to say Ji has been attracted not to where QPR are, but where QPR are going.

“We were able to show him where the club is heading and he embraced it. Ji gets what we are trying to do. This is a huge signing for this football club,” he admitted.

Park has also stated that he is looing forward to a new challenge and is excited about Rangers’ Premier League project.

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“The project was simply too good to resist and I am excited about getting started in pre-season and going on tour to Asia in the coming days,” the player confessed.

“I am joining a club that is very much on an upward curve – a club that has a very bright future.”

By Gareth McKnight

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It is arguably the most overused word in football. Ranking alongside phrases in common football parlance such as; “pay-as-you play,” “breath of fresh air” and “Arsenal surrender a late lead”, the term ‘veteran’ is fast becoming a frustratingly permanent fixture in the lexicon of the football community.  

The obsession with age across top-level football is, to my mind, wildly counter-productive. The general perception has long been that once a player reaches a certain point, commonly 30, they are debited with a mythical status that supposedly stops injuries from healing, decreases general ability and dulls a player’s desire for the game.

The term, once upon time a compliment reflecting experience has quickly become a thinly-veiled insult, simply describing any such player as being ‘old’.

This summer has seen a particular increase in the aversion to give players falling into such a category a chance to prove them self at the top level. However, it would appear, the cliché is applied indiscriminately.

Owen Hargreaves, crippled by the effects of long-standing tendinitis, is understandably deemed a risky acquisition at 30, however an injury-free Frank Lampard should not be suddenly deemed over the hill simply because he has reached 33. Whereas football may not buy into the principle of being as old as you feel- if your knees, head and heart are all still game, age need not be a deciding factor.

Whereas the age of players such as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs is only made as a reference to their remarkable longevity- for many, the tag is a millstone around their neck.

David Weir, still plying his trade in the SPL at 41 is undoubtedly a veteran and to borrow a man from another sport, Bernard Hopkins- the current WBC light-heavyweight champion is at 46, irrefutably deserving of a more senior tag.

It is almost as if a basic equation runs through the head of many when it comes to evaluating a player; Young > Old. It explains why when Josh McEachran prepares to make a substitute appearance for the Chelsea first team, numerous commentators, having never seen the midfielder play more than ten minutes of first team football decree the youngster as being; “the future of England.” Older players, Kevin Phillips making his Championship debut for Blackpool last night springs to mind, are subject to equally damaging generalisations.

However, a 30 or 35 year old footballer is not the same as the average man who has spent 18 sedentary years drinking 10 pints of beer a week- this point is regularly missed. As a result, the usual “veteran” tag is often misconstrued and misused.

Players that started their careers during the booze culture that enveloped a number of clubs during the 1990’s, somewhat inevitably, saw their careers nose-dive after they blew out the candles on their 30th birthday cake. Individuals such as Paul Merson, Paul Gascoigne and Tony Adams were undoubtedly ‘old’ at that age in comparison to players that have seen four shots of tequila and a stripper replaced by an isotonic drink and an ice bath.

Changing perceptions has taken too long.

Football is and will continue to increasingly be a young man’s game- and by flagging up this obsession, I am not suggesting that all of a sudden Joe Cole will be able to re-discover that lost yard of pace taken away by his crippling knee injury of three years ago, or that Gary Neville prematurely hung up his boots when he announced his exit from Old Trafford. Age and continual wear and tear is an inevitable factor.

However, it is remarkable how quickly the buzz words ‘youth’ ‘promise’ and ‘future’ are used to describe players for such a long time before they are, suddenly, consigned the scrapheap.

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We are, of course, not consistent with our approach to age. Andy Carroll is supposedly the future of England and Liverpool at 22, however by general consensus, Darron Gibson is, at 23, running out of time despite playing for the most successful club in the country and has seen first team chances limited accordingly.

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One aspect that has always amused me is the way a number of journalists- the vast majority north of the age barrier of no return- are so scathing of any age issue.

Michael Owen was supposedly a spent force at 29 as he signed for Manchester United in 2009. Fernando Torres, with an equally chequered record of hamstring and groin injuries, was considered a striking option for ‘the future’ at Chelsea earlier this year, despite only being two years younger than the former England striker had been yet £50 million more expensive.

The examples are numerous. The long-term concern is that this short sighted approach to our playing personnel will begin to cripple sides as they field younger players simply because they feel they ought to- the currentEnglandsituation immediately springs to mind.

But from the Premier League’s point of view, the obsession with youngsters will end up annexing a number of established top performers. Obviously, when the time comes, any player be they released by their club at 16 or score their final World Cup goal at 42, knows that their race has been run. Age, however, need not be the definitive measurement.

To keep abreast of my posts ahead of the new season, feel free to follow me on Twitter. 

Avram Grant will have be pleased with the point at Upton Park this evening.

The West Ham boss has been under immense pressure of late; however the league table is starting to open up and with West Ham only two points away from moving out of the drop zone, there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel. It was a hard fought point in the end and the Hammers defence held firm right until the end.

So how do West Ham fans feel about tonight’s point, and what are the five things we have learnt from the Hammers tonight?

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