roberto martinez fumes as blackpool destroy wigan

roberto martinez's baptism of fire in charge of wigan continued tonight as his much-changed side were ripped apart by the championship team blackpool in the second round of the carling cup. martinez shook things up following successive defeats by wolves and manchester united but the manager ended up accusing his players of "handing the game" to their opponents."there are certain standards that are not acceptable in our club, and the players should know that," martinez said.

hughton & clark give their views on nufc v htfc

newcastle united caretaker manager and lee clark, huddersfield manager have both given their views on last night's 2nd round carling cup game, which saw newcastle go through to the 3rd round in a 4-3 thriller. hughton told the northern echo; "you aren't to read anything into the fact that i rested steven and fabricio. absolutely not.

bolton keen on nolan return

bolton wanderers manager gary megson has confirmed his interest in bringing former midfielder kevin nolan back to the reebok stadium. nolan left the trotters for newcastle united in a £4million deal back in january, but the former bolton skipper now finds himself in the championship with the relegated magpies. "we asked somebody to find out if newcastle would be interested on loaning kevin back," revealed megson.

cats confirm turner interest

sunderland boss steve bruce has confirmed his interest in hull city defender michael turner. the 25-year-old centre-half has already been linked with a £6million move to liverpool during the summer transfer window but a switch to anfield has failed to materialise. now bruce is hoping to persuade the tigers to part company with a player who has made over 125 league appearances for the club during three years at the kc stadium.

dikgacoi joins up with fulham

fulham have signed south africa international midfielder kagisho dikgacoi on a two-year contract. the 24-year-old has joined for an undisclosed fee after impressing cottagers boss roy hodgson during the recent confederations cup. dikgacoi played in all five of the host's matches during the competition and has joined fulham from south african side golden arrows. "i am so happy that my transfer to fulham has been finalised," he told the club's official website.

dunne close to villa switch

aston villa have agreed a fee with manchester city for a deal to sign republic of ireland central defender richard dunne. the 29-year-old stopper has been deemed as surplus to requirements at eastlands following the £24million capture of joleon lescott from everton. dunne has spent close to nine years with the citizens, making more than 350 appearances for the club in all competitions. his likely arrival at villa park seems to signal an end to interest in portsmouth's french defender sylvain distin, who is now poised to replace lescott at goodison park.

harper still eyes wolves move

reading midfielder james harper remains hopeful that a move to wolves may be completed before the transfer window slams shut. the 28-year-old was set to head to molineux earlier this summer, before wolves boss mick mccarthy pulled the plug due to concerns over a groin problem. harper told the reading evening post: "i respect his decision but i don't agree with it. "i was just recovering from a groin injury and when mick looked at the scans he told me i wouldn't be ready.

pompey secure smith signing

portsmouth have wrapped up the signing of striker tommy smith from watford, beating reading to his signature. the 29-year-old has penned a four-year contract at fratton park after the two clubs agreed a fee for his transfer believed to be in the region of £1.8million. the former derby and sunderland man, who can also operate on the wing, netted 17 goals last term and two already this season for the struggling hornets.

potters tie up huth signing

stoke city have completed the £5million signing of middlesbrough's germany defender robert huth. the 25-year-old moves to the britannia stadium in a deal which could eventually cost the potters a club record £6million, with huth having spent three seasons with boro following a move from chelsea. city chief executive tony scholes told the club's official website: "our manager, tony pulis, has been looking to strengthen the squad with the intention of taking us to an even higher level.

reina appeals for reds calm

goalkeeper jose reina has urged liverpool fans to keep the faith despite the club's below-par start to the season. the reds have suffered defeats at the hands of tottenham hotspur and aston villa despite the new premier league campaign being just three games old. they have already lost as many league games as they did all last season but, despite suggestions that the anfield club are on the back foot already the title race, reina has called for calm.