Have a Good NEWS

Manchester United respond to Owen Hargreaves; Adel Taarabt is invited out of international retirement; and discussion of Stoke, Chelsea and Newcastle; and much more.

Preamble:

Elsewhere, will Stoke be the side to stick a spoke, or an outstretched leg, in Manchester United's wheels? Can Steve Kean's survival prospects rise still further with a victory at Newcastle or will Mike Ashely's cannily-remodelled club continue their positive start to the season by extending their unbeaten run, possibly even by scoring enough goals to win the match? Everton are another team who struggle to convert stylish play into goals: will they get together against Manchester City? At Anfield, can Mick McCarthy get Wolves back to winning ways and will Kenny Dalglish unleash Craig Bellamy again following his spectacualr showing at Brighton? Speaking of Brighton, what shape will they be in for tonight's clash with Leeds? Where will Doncaster Rovers go in the post-Sean O'Driscoll era? Will Watford help Steve McLaren get the chop at Forest? And here's one prompted by a quick glance at the telly in Guardian Towers, which, inexcusably, is currently screening Lorraine: has anyone else ever noticed that the guy who played Boycie in Only Fools and Horses looks, when angry, like Robert Di Niro?

9.33am:

By the way, for those of you interested in rugby, the second-string are proving surprisingly pesky to Australia right now: they've just run in a brilliant try to close the gap to 10-5. Find out more with Tom Lutz here.

10.04am:

10.15am:

10.25am: On the subject of Manchester United's visit to Stoke tomorrow, NotSoSecretFootballer makes a pertinent point below the line: "The biggest challenge is for DeGea. All those long throw-ins and physicality will be a big test for the young lad. It might be rough for him."

Here's Newcastle's squad for tomorrow's match with Blackburn. Things to note are: Shola Ameobi is a doubt with a shoulder problem and Alan Smith is still out injured but, in case you'd forgotten, is still a Newcastle player.

Some say Theo Walcott is a brainless type of footballer. It's true that he doesn't take the right decision on the pitch as often as folks would like but he's not as wasteful as some over-the-top critics claim and off the pitch he's clearly smart: hats off to him today for acknowledging that in many cases (here's looking at you in particular, Andrei Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky) the players have let the manager down.

12.29pm:

Hello, Simon Burnton here, taking over from Paul for an hour or so.

1.02pm:

West Bromwich Albion team news: everyone Roy Hodgson left out for the Carling Cup defeat to Everton returns. Gabriel Tamas is still suspended, but Shane Long could return from illness.

1.34pm:

Hi. Paul Doyle back again. I've finished my lunch. Does that count as breaking news? Oh. Then how about a squint at Chelsea's squad for the tomorrow's visit of Swansea. Daniel Sturridge is out.

1.41pm:

2.04pm:

On the plus side for Villa, Shay Given has been superb for them so far: reckon sitting on the bench for a year at City was just what he needed and has probably prolonged his career by a few years.

"Much as I Iove the live blogs that you guys do, even to the extent of reading whilst actually watching the match, I must ask: How can you think about football when you could be live blogging on the conference happening at CERN discussing the possible violation of currently accepted theories of physics?" demands-to-know Michael Brown, possibly in reference to a convention of ace boffins discussing the freakish trajectories of a goodly portion of Steven Gerrard shots. "For the record: I didn't break physics," adds Michael helpfully. By the way, has anyone been hit by that falling satellite yet?

I am delighted that it now appears that James Brent is within sight of being able to complete his takeover of Plymouth Argyle Football Club.

I therefore can confirm that my role as 'Acting Chairman of Plymouth Argyle Football Club' on behalf of the Administrator will finish on the completion of James Brent's takeover.

"Ridsdale has his detractors of course but those with knowledge of what he has done at Plymouth say he has worked hard for no reward to help save the club," says top Guardian sleuth David Conn. "In this Argyle fans messageboard discussion, the Argyle supporters trust says he 'played a key role in saving the club" and "we will always be grateful for that.'"