Fraizer Campbell, Tottenham

Fraizer Campbell has played most of his football coming off the bench for Spurs recently. Campbell did start in Tottenham’s Carling Cup clash with Watford (3/12) but was substituted after 65 minutes. His replacement, Darren Bent scored the decisive goal 11 minutes later as Tottenham won 2 – 1. Campbell wasn’t named in the squad for Tottenham’s 2 – 0 away victory over West Ham (8/12) and was ineligible for the nil nil draw at home to Manchester United (13/12). Campbell came off the bench in the 64th minute and came close to winning the game twice late on but it was Damien Duff who snatched an injury time winner to give the home side the win. Newcastle 2 – 1 Tottenham (21/12). Fraizer Campbell came on in the 58th minute but was unable to prevent a stalemate as Tottenham drew nil nil at home to Fulham (26/12). Just two days later Tottenham lost two nil away to West Brom (28/12) making it six games without a win for Spurs. Tottenham felt hard done to after going down to 10 men with little over half an hour played and then later go behind to a goal despite clear foul on defender Michael Dawson. Campbell was thrown on the 87th minute but it was West Brom who added another in injury time to pile on misery on Harry Redknapp. Tottenham played Wigan (2/1) in the FA Cup with Frazier Campbell replacing an injured Darren Bent after just 26 minutes. Campbell won a penalty in the 52nd minute which led to the game’s opening goal. Tottenham went on to win 3 – 1. Campbell played the full 90 minutes as Tottenham beat Burnley 4 – 1 (6/1) at home in the Carling cup. Campbell had a lively game but failed to find the net. The arrival of Jermaine Defoe the competition for places would be even greater at Spurs. Campbell was named in the squad but never made it off the bench as a last gasp goal for Wigan saw Tottenham slump back into the bottom three.

Craig Cathcart, Plymouth Argyle

Craig Cathcart’s loan deal with Plymouth was due to end at the turn of the year but a deal has been agreed which will see the 19 year old see out the season with the Pilgrims. Cathcart recently told the BBC: “A lot of my defensive work has improved. I’m stronger, and better in the air. I’ve been playing plenty of games and hopefully I can get plenty more games towards the end of the season. I was sent here to get experience and toughen me up and hopefully when I go back to United I’ll get into the squad or thereabouts.”

Cathcart played as Plymouth lost 1 – 0 to Doncaster on 9/12 before taking up a spot on the bench in the following three matches; a 1 – 0 defeat to Birmingham (9/12), a 1 – 1 draw with QPR (13/12) and a 2 – 0 defeat to Barnsley (20/12). Cathcart came off the bench in the Barnsley match at half time after a woeful performance from Plymouth but was unable to prevent a defeat. Cathcart was recalled to the first team for Plymouths 2 – 0 victory over Southampton (29/12) and his performance received special praise from Argyle boss, Paul Sturrock: “I thought Craig was outstanding. We needed that type of centre-back today. He was involved in sweeping up everything. He likes defending, and that is what I like about him.” Cathcart kept his place for Plymouth’s 1 – 0 defeat to Cardiff City (28/12) and the subsequent trip to The Emirates, in which Argyle went down 3 – 1 (3/1).

Tom Heaton, Cardiff City

Unfortunately for Tom Heaton at Cardiff city he has been unable to win his place back from, and made no appearances for Cardiff city in the last seven matches; instead he has had to make do with watching from the bench.

Fraizer Campbell (striker)

Campbell had to watch both Tottenham’s 4 – 4 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates (29/10) and their 2 – 1 home win over Liverpool (1/11) from the bench but did make an appearance in their 4 – 0 win at home to Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Cup, coming off the bench for the last 16 minutes (6/11). Campbell took his place on the bench for Spurs’ next match; a 2 – 1 defeat away top Man City in which Campbell didn’t feature. Campbell‘s third start for the club came in the League Cup at home to Liverpool in which Tottenham ran out 4 – 2 winners (12/11); Campbell scored twice, his first goals for Tottenham. Campbell came off the bench with 20 minutes left as Tottenham suffered their first defeat under Harry Redknapp, going down 2 – 1 away to Fulham (15/11). Campbell scored Tottenham’s only goal. Campbell again came off the bench for Tottenham’s 1 – 1 draw at home to Blackburn (23/11) coming on in the 73rd minute before starting in Tottenham’s 1 – 0 away win over NEC Nijmegen (27/11). Campbell was withdrawn after 82 minutes. Campbell was again involved as Tottenham suffered another home defeat, this time at the hands of Everton, going down 1 – 0 (30/11). Campbell came off the bench with half an hour to go and almost grabbed the equaliser but his shot was deflected just wide.

Tom Heaton (goalkeeper)

Cardiff City loanee, Tom Heaton, started the month off well playing the full ninety minutes in Cardiff’s 2 – 0 home victory over Blackpool (28/10). Heaton also played the full ninety in Cardiff’s second home defeat of the season as they went down 2 – 1 to promotional hopefuls Wolves (1/11). Cardiff were reduced to 9 men in their trip to Loftus Road and suffered another defeat this time losing 1 – 0 to QPR. Heaton played the full match again. Cardiff returned to winning ways at home to Crystal Palace with Heaton in goal as they won 2 – 1 (15/11/08). Heaton started in goal for Cardiff’s 2 – 1 away defeat to Plymouth (22/11) but was forced off for treatment in the 83rd minute. Cardiff have played two further matches since the defeat but unfortunately, Heaton hasn’t managed to win his place back and was an unused substitute in Cardiff’s 2 – 2 draw at home to Reading (25/11) and the 2 – 2 draw away to Swansea (30/11).

Craig Cathcart (defender)

Craig Cathcart continued his run in the first team at Plymouth playing every minute he has been available for selection starting with a 1 – 0 defeat away to Sheffield Wednesday (28/10). Cathcart picked up a virus which ruled him out of the teams trip to Sheffield United; Plymouth lost 2 – 0 (1/11). Cathcart returned to the first team in Plymouth’s 2 – 2 home draw with Charlton (8/11) and has been an ever present in the team ever since. Plymouth continued the next 3 game unbeaten making it 4 without defeat starting with victory away to Coventry, 1 – 0 (15/11), victory over Cardiff at home, 2 – 1 (22/11) and holding Southampton to a goalless draw at St Mary’s (25/11). Plymouth’s unbeaten run came to an end when they lost at 2 – 1 at home to Blackpool (29/11).

Danny Simpson (defender)

Danny Simpson continued to be an important first team member at Blackburn despite the clubs poor form. Simpson played the full ninety minutes in Blackburn’s away defeat at the hands of Aston Villa, going down 3 – 2 (29/10). Blackburn were reduced to ten men in the first half in their 2 – 2 draw away to West Brom (1/11). Simpson started the match but was withdrawn at half time. Blackburn’s next match was at home to Chelsea in which they lost 2 – 0 (9/11). Simpson played the entire match and picked up a booking. Blackburn’s only victory of November came in the league cup as they beat Sunderland away 2 – 1, again Simpson played the full match. Three days later, Simpson played the full match as Sunderland travelled to Ewood Park and this time the scores were reversed, Sunderland running out 2 – 1 winners (15/11). Danny Simpson started the following match away to Tottenham but was substituted at half time as Blackburn lost 1 – 0 (23/11). Simpson was relegated to the bench for Blackburn’s 5th defeat in a row and never made it onto the pitch as Blackburn went down 3 – 2 away to Portsmouth (30/11).

Lee Martin (midfielder)

Lee Martin once again struggled to cement his place in Nottingham Forest’s first team being named in the squad but not coming off the bench in Forest’s 2 – 1 away win at Crystal Palace (28/10). Martin was omitted from the squad completely for Forest’s subsequent match; a 1 – 1 draw away to Derby (2/11). Lee returned to the squad for Nottingham Forest’s 1 – 1 draw at home to Birmingham (8/11) coming off the bench for the last 10 minutes. Martin was dropped from the squad for Nottingham Forest’s 2 – 2 draw away to Bristol City (15/11) and made only a brief substitute appearance (coming on in the 75th minute) in the following game when Forest were defeated at home by Norwich City 2 – 1 (22/11). Martin was named in the starting eleven as Forest travelled to Doncaster and played 74 minutes before being withdrawn as the teams played out a nil nil draw (25/11). Martin was again omitted from the squad altogether as Forest beat Burnley 1 – 0 at home (29/11).

Febian Brandy (striker)

Febian Brandy continued playing a bit part in Swansea’s campaign sitting on the bench for Swansea’s 2 – 1 defeat at Wolves (28/10) and their goalless draw away to Doncaster (1/11). On a side note, former Red Ebanks-Blake grabbed both the goals for Wolves ensuring his team victory. Swansea beat Watford 3 – 1 in the league at home (9/11) in match which saw Brandy coming on with just 2 minutes to go. Two days later, Swansea played host to Watford again, this time in the League Cup. Brandy was given the nod and started the match but was withdrawn in the 84th minute as Swansea crashed out of the cup losing 1 – 0 (11/11). Brandy came off the bench in the 91st minute during Swansea’s 3 – 2 win away to Norwich (15/11) and once again in the club’s 3 – 2 defeat at home to Birmingham City (21/11); this time getting 11 minutes. Brandy wasn’t named in the squad for either of Swansea’s two latest matches; a 1 – 1 away draw with Coventry (25/11) and a home 2 – 2 draw against Cardiff (30/11).

Brandy is yet to make a League start for Swansea this season making 10 league appearances all from the bench.

Ron-Robert Zieler (goalkeeper)

Ron-Robert Zieler recently joined Northampton Town (on 27/11) and has yet to feature for the club.

Campbell joined Spurs on a season long loan on transfer deadline day as part of the deal which saw Dimitar Berbatov become a Red Devil in a club record £30.75 million deal. With a very real possibility of a serious offer from Spurs Ferguson has some questions he needs to answer. First and foremost, does Campbell have a future with United?

Of course it is still too early to know that but it does look like the kid has potential – s much so that Alex Ferguson is considering bringing the player back to Carrington as early as January.

“We could pull him back in January,” said Ferguson. “We have to the option and it is a possibility.

“The boy has been fantastic at Spurs.

“He is a good player but we needed to get him first-team experience, so we agreed to it so the deal with Berbatov went through.”

So long as Campbell continues to play for Tottenham’s first team and United have no striker problems (injuries or departure) I expect Campbell to stay at Spurs for the season. United already have Rooney, Tevez and Berbatov fiercely doing battle for places and the likes of Manucho and the very exciting talent of Danny Welbeck coming through the ranks. It will be much harder to get games at Old Trafford so an education at the Lane may be the next best thing.

Tom Heaton

Tom Heaton continued his loan spell at Cardiff City playing the full ninety minutes in seven of the club’s eight fixtures (he played in all seven league games). Heaton kept goal in Cardiff’s 1 – 1 draw with Derby County (20/9) before missing their Carling Cup 1 – 0 defeat to Swansea City (23/9). Heaton returned to the team for Cardiff’s first league defeat as they went down 2 – 1 away to Birmingham City (27/9). Cardiff went on to win their following match; a 2 – 1 home victory over Coventry (30/9), before drawing away to Blackpool 1 – 1(4/10).

Heaton kept a clean sheet in the following match as Cardiff beat Charlton 2 – 0 at home (18/10), conceded two away to Watford as Cardiff battled back from two nil to earn a 2 – 2 draw (21/10) and kept another clean sheet away to Nottingham Forest (25/10), winning 1 – 0. Speaking after the Forest victory, Cardiff manager Dave Jones was full of praise for the young goal keeper. He said:

“I’ve sent a report to Sir Alex and said he’s a boy with great potential to be a top player. He’s still young, he’ll make mistakes and we’re working hard on him because that’s our job. He’s not ready to play for Manchester United yet and I’ll be happy if Sir Alex doesn’t want him back yet. We want him to continue learning here!”. (Back to Top)

Fraizer Campbell

Fraizer Campbell got himself more minutes this month as he made four appearances for Tottenham Hotspur. Campbell came off the bench at half time in Tottenham’s 0 – 0 draw with Wigan (21/9) before coming off the bench in the 62nd minute in Tottenham’s 2 – 1 Carling Cup win over Newcastle (24/9).

Frazier was handed his first start for the club in the 1 – 1 away draw with Wisla Krakow (2/10) but was substituted after 67 minutes. His first league start came shortly after as Tottenham went down 1 – 0 at home to Hull City (5/10). Campbell has been named in the squad for Tottenham’s last three games (away defeat to Stoke, away defeat to Udinese and home win over Bolton) but hasn’t come off the bench. (Back to Top)

Danny Simpson

Danny Simpson has been a regular for Blackburn Rovers playing the full 90 minutes in all five matches in which he was available, starting with 1 – 0 home victories over Fulham (29/9) and Everton (24/9) followed by Blackburn’s 2 – 1 away win at Newcastle (27/9). Danny Simpson was unavailable as Rovers played host to Manchester United (Utd won 2 – 0 – 4/10) but returned for the 0 – 0 draw away to Bolton (18/10) in which Simpson picked up a booking and Blackburn’s 1 – 1 home draw with Middlesbrough (25/10).

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Lee Martin

Lee Martin started for Nottingham Forest as they drew 0 – 0 at home to Charlton (20/9) but was substituted in the 65th minute. He kept his starting place for Forest’s 1 – 0 defeat away to Plymouth (27/9) but again was pulled from action, this time in the 67th minute. Martin came off the bench in the 68th minute in Forest’s 1 – 0 defeat away to Sheffield Wednesday (30/9) before reclaiming his place in the starting line up as Nottingham Forest continued their bad form losing 2 – 0 at home to Crystal Palace. Martin was subbed in 69th minute.

Martin missed Forest’s following trip to QPR but returned to make a 74th minute substitute appearance in the 1 – 1 draw at home to Ipswich (21/10). Martin was again missing from the squad in Nottingham Forest’s home defeat to Cardiff (25/10). (Back to Top)

Craig Cathcart

Craig Cathcart got plenty of experience under his belt at Plymouth Argyle over the last month or so as he has made him self an ever present in the first team. Cathcart played the full 90 away to Crystal Palace as Plymouth won 2 – 1 (20/9) and then made his home debut against Nottingham Forest as Plymouth won 1 – 0 (27/9). The young defender played 54 minutes before being withdrawn. He went on to play the full 90 minutes in Plymouth’s following five games starting with a 2 – 2 draw away to Bristol (30/9), a 4 – 0 home win over Sheffield Wednesday (4/10) and a 2 – 1 defeat away to Derby (18/10).

Plymouth’s latest matches have been a 1 – 0 home victory over Preston (21/10) and a 3 – 1 defeat to Ipswich (25/10) at home in which Cathcart scored his first goal for the club; a diving header in the 80th minute. (Back to Top)

Febian Brandy

And finally, Febian Brandy who has struggled to make an impression on loan at Swansea City. The 19 year old striker sat on the bench for Swansea’s 1 – 1 draw at home to Burnley (20/9) before coming on in the 85th minute in Swansea’s 1 – 0 win at home to Cardiff. Swansea were 3 – 0 down at half time away to Reading which led to Brandy being given 45 minutes in the second half but he was unable to do much as Swansea suffered a heavy 4 – 0 defeat (27/9). Another game and another substitute appearance for Brandy this time away to Preston in a 2 – 0 victory.

Brandy was on the bench but never made it onto the pitch in Swansea’s following 3 matches; a 3 – 1 home win over Wolves (4/10), a 2 – 2 away draw at Ipswich (18/10) and a 0 – 0 draw at home to QPR (21/10). Brandy was given another 15 minutes in Swansea’s 3 – 0 win at home to Southampton (25/10) with the match already won (3 – 0) before Brandy’s introduction. Roberto Martinez clearly doesn’t fancy Brandy and you have to wonder why. (Back to Top)

At little after half eleven on Monday 1st September, the club announced on manutd.com:
“Manchester United are delighted to announce the signing of Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian international striker, 27, has signed a four-year contract after joining from Tottenham Hotspur for an undisclosed fee.”

Manchester United had previously refused to meet Tottenham’s £30 million valuation of the player with reports initially claiming United were only prepared to pay £25 million and later even up to £28 million. Spurs indicated £30 million or nothing so it was a case of who would crumble first. United ended up paying a reported £30.75 million; a real coup for the bargaining men at Old Trafford. Spurs also agreed to drop the complaint over United’s pursuit of Berbatov and to seal the deal, it looks like Fraizer Campbell is going on a season long loan to White Hart Lane.

United lost bargaining power when Manchester City entered the equation with a £30 million plus offer. There were even reports of Real Madrid making a “record breaking offer” but that never materialised. In a bizarre twist, Manchester City have a new owner, someone from the ruling family of Abu Dhabi no less; a man with more money than Abramovich. City unsuccessfully tried to hijack United’s move for Berbatov whilst also bidding £32.5 million for Real Madrid’s Robinho in an attempt to steal the forward from under the noses of Chelsea. Unfortunately for Chelsea, their bid was successful and Robinho will now be strutting his stuff at the City of Manchester Stadium this season. Unbelievable I know.

Fraizer Campbell’s loan spell in North London should prove a great opportunity for the 20 year old Striker. Tottenham had only Darren Bent and new boy Roman Pavlyuchenko up front before the arrival of Campbell so the youngster has plenty of opportunity to show what he can do.

Speaking to manutd.com, Dimitar Berbatov said “Joining Manchester United is a dream come true for me. I look forward to playing my part in helping this club win more honours in the years to come.”

Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted to have finally gotten his man and said: “This is a key signing. Dimitar is one of the best and most exciting strikers in world football. His style and ability will give the team a different dimension and I’m sure he will be a popular player with the fans.”

Dimitar Berbatov scored 46 goals in 102 appearances for Tottenham and fee aside, could prove to be vital in the team’s defence of both the Premier League and Champions League titles.

With the news that Cristiano Ronaldo is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation it wont be long till United unleash a deadly strike force; Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov and Tevez. I see plenty of goals at Old Trafford this season.