After nine years with Real Madrid, Gareth Bale is once more on the hunt for a new club. Winning an incredible five Champions Leagues with Los Blancos, Bale became persona non grata in Madrid, but still has plenty of ability, as he has demonstrated with Wales.

It does appear as if he will be considering his next step carefully though. The priority will of course be Wales, who are preparing for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar this November. With that in mind, Bale will want a club that permits him to regain full fitness with regular minutes, but also somewhere he can play without the pressure of risking his fitness, as might happen at some larger clubs.

Recently it had been reported by the BBC that his agents were in talks with Cardiff City over a move back to Wales. Yet speaking to talkSport on Thursday morning, Scottish commentator Ally McCoist explained that he didn’t feel that it was the best use of Bale’s significant talent.

“I’m looking at it and clearly there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to go back and play for your hometown club. I think it’s admirable, to say the least.”

“However I still feel that he’s got an awful lot to offer at the highest level, I really do. You watch him in the internationals and he’ll be all geared up for the World Cup in Qatar and I just think that surely there are Premier League clubs out there.”

“Automatically, I just think that Newcastle would be ideal,” McCoist asserted.

It would certainly be a sign of intent from Newcastle. Eddie Howe’s side are looking to continue a process of taking his squad to the next level, following on from Bruno Guimaraes’ signing in the winter transfer window.

However as stated, Wales will be Bale’s first priority next season. It might suit the Magpies better to try and bring younger, hungrier stars in order to take the next step.

The post Ally McCoist touts Premier League move for Gareth Bale amid Cardiff City links appeared first on CaughtOffside.

The financial figures from the 2013-14 Premier League campaign have been revealed by the Guardian, and there are few surprises on which clubs top the highest turnovers for the season.

Notably, Tottenham Hotspur boast the highest ever profit by an English club, as they prepare for their new stadium.

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Take a look below at a breakdown of the financial figures from the Premier League clubs in the 2013-14 season…

1. Manchester United

Turnover £433m

Profit before tax £41m

The Red Devils were coming to terms with the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, which hit the Premier League giants harder than possibly expected. Nonetheless, the club continue to rake in an incredible income.

2. Manchester City

Turnover £347m

Loss before tax £23m

The Premier League champions reduced their wage bill by £28m, as they aimed to make amends on their financial health – following a £16m fine for breaching Financial Fair Play rules – as a result of losing £151m in the two previous campaigns.

3. Chelsea

Turnover £324m

Profit before tax £15m

The Blues have done excellent transfer business over the past two seasons – selling David Luiz and Juan Mata for a combined £87.1m – and bringing in Nemanja Matic, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas who look to have fired Chelsea to their first Premier League title in five years.

A successful season financially for the Stamford Bridge outfit – despite Roman Abramovic increasing his loans to £57m – making it a staggering £1.041bn that the Russian businessman has pumped into the club.

4. Arsenal 

Turnover £304m

Profit before tax £5m

The Gunners continue to handle the debt from the Emirates, and have slowly began to show signs that they are finally willing to invest on the pitch, particularly through the £42.5m purchase of Mesut Ozil.

5. Liverpool

Turnover £256m

Profit before tax £1m

The Reds were in the midst of a transitionary period under manager Brendan Rodgers, and their final position as second in the league proved the club were heading in the right direction. Though Liverpool haven’t carried the form into the following campaign.

The post 2013-14 Premier League clubs financial figures: Tottenham and Manchester United boast highest profit appeared first on CaughtOffside.

The Championship is a great breeding ground for young Premier League stars looking to get some much needed experience under their belts. It’s a simultaneously a difficult league to get out of or stay in, and the opportunities it provides for development are massive.

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With the loan window closing for the season on Thursday, we take a closer view at the ten youngsters most likely to make a strong impact between now and the close of the campaign.

Semi Ajayi – Arsenal to Cardiff

Despite not year featuring in Arsene Wenger’s first team plans, the Nigerian under-21 international has still drawn comparisons to Gunners legend Sol Campbell.

Calm on the ball, and strong in the air, if given a good run of games in the Bluebirds’ final stretch he may finally find himself included in Wenger’s match day squads a little more.

Nathan Ake – Chelsea to Reading

The young Dutchman has been on the periphery of Jose Mourinho’s plans for the best part of a year now, even making four appearances for the club in defence and midfield.

Captain of the Dutch under-21 side, big things are expected of Ake, and the Blues are only now taking the chance of sending him out on loan having resisted for so long. He’ll be a solid addition as the Royals look to seal a return to the top flight, but he’ll be forced to sit out of their FA Cup semi-final meeting with Arsenal as he is ineligible.

The post The 10 best Premier League loan signings at Championship clubs: Arsenal starlet set to make impact at Forest appeared first on CaughtOffside.

A table has been compiled of the statistically biggest clubs in English football, with a lower score better in terms of adding up average league position, rank for crowd attendance, rank for number of trophies won, rank for income and more.

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50) Bury – 273

49) Millwall – 269

47=) Bristol City – 262

47=) Bradford City – 262

46) Barnsley – 260

44=) Watford – 249

44=) Brighton – 249

43) Reading – 245

42) Notts County – 239

41) Coventry – 238

The post 50 biggest clubs in England: The DEFINITIVE list, with Man United, Liverpool & Arsenal battling for top spot appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Former Newcastle United, Sunderland and Cardiff City forward Michael Chopra has signed for Scottish Championship outfit Alloa Athletic.

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Chopra joins the part-time side after an unsuccessful spell with Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League, where he did not score one goal in nine games.

The ex-England youth international also failed to find the net for Blackpool during the 2013-14 season.

However, Chopra has bagged for Ipswich, Cardiff, Sunderland, Barnsley, Watford and Newcastle during his career.

The 31-year-old,  who has battled a gambling problem for most of his adult life, may make his Alloa debut against Rangers this evening.

Hopefully, he is excited about the prospect of lining up against the Old Firms giants.

He certainly doesn’t look excited in the below video, which was taken some years ago. An old women tells him to ‘stop looking so miserable’ – it’s quite funny!

The post Alloa Athletic sign Michael Chopra: Former Newcastle & Sunderland striker could play against Rangers tonight appeared first on CaughtOffside.

You would think he would make sure he gets his last programme notes right.

Departing Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan has made one final blunder this season, welcoming Cardiff City to the DW Stadium in his programme notes, ahead of their game with Leeds United, reports the Daily Mail.

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In what appears to be a copy and paste job gone wrong, the 78-year-old seemed to leave the opening lines from his previous address: “Tonight we welcome Cardiff City and their supporters who have travelled from South Wales for another important Sky Bet Football League Championship fixture,” for the match against the Yorkshire club.

Whelan has handed control of the club to his 23-year-old grandson, after what has been a turbulent season.

The Latics look set to be relegated at the end of the season, and Whelan himself was repeatedly in trouble for making discriminatory remarks, as he tried to defend the appointment of manager Malky Mackay. It appeared that everytime Whelan attempted to clear his name, he landed himself in further trouble.

He was fined, and served a six-week footballing ban.

On the pitch, his side could not give him the perfect send off, as they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to Neil Redfearn’s team.

The post Dave Whelan Makes Massive Programme Gaffe In Final Game As Wigan Athletic Chairman appeared first on CaughtOffside.

The Wigan Athletic boss was accused of racism during his time in charge of Cardiff City… 

The FA is reviewing ‘significant’ new evidence in the inquiry in to the allegations of racism from Wigan manager Malky Mackay, according to Sky Sports.

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The accusations originate from the 43-year-old’s time in charge of Cardiff City, where he sent an number of texts to director of football Iain Moody, which allegedly contained racist remarks.

Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan only released the information when the manager started to make moves towards finding a new job.

The FA earlier confirmed that the review of the evidence behind the claims would have its deadline extended, and it would appear that this is why. Whether the new information furthers the allegations or helps exonerate the former Watford boss is unknown.

BREAKING: FA reviewing “significant new information” in ongoing inquiry into Malky Mackay racism allegations. Reaction on #SSNHQ

— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) March 3, 2015

The post FA Receives ‘Significant’ New Information In Malky Mackay Racism Allegations appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Still unclear whether former Cardiff manager will face reprimand…

The FA’s investigation into the series of racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-semitic text messages by Wigan manager Malky Mackay is to be delayed after new information came to light, reports Daily Mail.

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Investigators were hoping to complete their inquiries in February, however they have now been stalled after receiving a new trove of information which could cause their findings to remain unpublished until the end of the current season.

FA Chairman Greg Dyke said a statement would be released this week explaining the delay.

The organisation has already spent months debating whether they can actually charge Mackay as the messages could be construed as both private and public.

Mackay made the point to the inquiry that the messages were sent in a private capacity and do not fall under their jurisdiction – which does have precedent after the FA refused to charge Premier League chief Richard Scudamore for a series of sexist emails with a colleague last year.

The Mail say it looked increasingly likely in January that the two men would escape punishment because of this reason despite both admitting they send the messages in question.

However, the news both men could avoid reprimand appears to have caused a number of other witnesses to come forward and reveal new information.

The investigation has also used the comments as a basis to discover whether there was a culture of racism, sexism and homophobia during the reign of Mackay at Cardiff, not just privately between then head of recruitment Iain Moody.

The original revelations came about because of an investigation by Cardiff owner Vincent Tan into the club’s transfer business which allowed  access to computers and emails accessed by Moody.

The post Malky Mackay Text Scandal: FA Delays Verdict On Wigan Athletic Boss appeared first on CaughtOffside.

This lot get around…biggest journeymen in football!

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1) Zlatan Ibrahimovic (7 clubs)

A player who is incredibly well-travelled among the biggest clubs in Europe, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has played for Malmo, Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and current club Paris Saint-Germain.

The post Ten Ultimate Football Journeymen, Including Ex-Arsenal, Liverpool & Man United Stars Plus Brazil Legend With 15 Clubs! appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur go head-to-head at Wembley on Sunday, with plenty to live up too…

Wembley will play host to the 2015 Capital One Cup final on Sunday, as Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur go head-to-head in what’s all set to be an enthralling London derby.

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Spurs beat Jose Mourinho’s Blues 5-3 the last time the two sides met in Premier League action, and the countless neutrals watching the game this weekend will no doubt be hoping for a similar scoreline.

Of course, the intriguing clash will have to go some way to live up to the six finals in our list below. Re-live all the drama in the following pages as we count down our most memorable League Cup finals ever!

6) 1967 – Queens Park Rangers 3-2 West Bromwich Albion

This was the first ever League Cup final to be played at Wembley, rather than over two legs, and produced one of the finest comebacks the competition has ever seen. West Brom led 2-0 at half-time after a brace from Colin Clark, and looked set to lift the trophy. However, Rodney Marsh and Roger Morgan drew Rangers level before Mark Lazarus scored a dramatic late winner.

The post Ranking The Most Memorable League Cup Finals, With Three Shock Arsenal Defeats And Liverpool Penalty Win appeared first on CaughtOffside.