LIVERPOOL legend Sami Hyypia turned 38 on the 7th of October and we here at OurKop hope he enjoyed a fantastic birthday. To celebrate let’s take a look back at his successful time at Anfield.

The giant Fin was a rock at the back for Liverpool for almost 10 years. He signed for the Reds for £2.6 million from Willem II in 1999 and had a successful first season with the club, forming a formidable partnership with Stephane Henchoz. A year later Hyypia was asked to share captain responsibilities with Robbie Fowler as full-time captain Jamie Redknapp was suffering from a long-term injury. In that season Hyypia and Fowler led Liverpool to a cup treble as the Reds won the Football League Cup, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup.

In 2004, following the arrival of Rafael Benitez and departure of Gerard Houllier, Hyypia had a new central defensive partner in the shape of Jamie Carragher. The pair formed a very strong partnership that took Liverpool all the way to Champions League glory as they beat AC Milan in Istanbul. Hyypia also played in the FA Cup Final a year later as Liverpool beat West Ham on penalties at the Millenium Stadium.

His final game for the Reds was against Tottenham at Anfield in 2009. He was given the captain’s armband by Steven Gerrard and received a standing ovation from the supporters when he came on. He even nearly managed to score with a headed effort cleared off the line. At the final whistle the players raised Hyypia aloft for him to receive a fond farewell from the fans.

During his time at Anfield Hyypia made 464 appearances, which put him in Liverpool’s top 20 of all time, and scored 35 goals. He won 10 trophies in 10 seasons at Anfield and was described by fellow legend Ian Rush as “One of the best signings the club has ever made”.

After leaving Liverpool Hyypia joined Bayer Leverrkusen in Germany. He has since retired and is currently getting his coaching licence. He has spoken about his desire to return to Anfield as a coach in the future.

Here’s to Sami Hyypia.

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John Terry may be battling the demons off the field, but the Chelsea captain will be in for a busy afternoon next weekend as The Blues entertain a Liverpool side determined to pick up a much-needed 3pts. With Luis Suarez the ever present in the Liverpool attack, and one who has been a revelation at Anfield following the demise and departure of Fernando Torres, the Uruguayan will certainly bring along his bag of party tricks to a Chelsea side still feeling the effects of the 5-3 home defeat to Arsenal.

While Liverpool have been struggling against the Premier League’s newest recruits from the Championship, only one win in their last three leaves the chasing pack hot on the heels of Kenny Dalglish’s side. And with the club’s record signing Andy Carroll still unsure of his role in the new-look Reds side, it will be down to Luis Suarez to provide the goals and take advantage of a John Terry who is not the same player that so courageously used to lead Chelsea into battle.

Will we see a change in fortunes for the current England captain, or will the Kop’s new favourite son put Liverpool right back in the race for a Champions League spot?

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Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is considering a January move for highly-rated Celtic winger James Forrest according to The Sun.

The 20-year-old is one of Scotland’s top young talents and has been on Redknapp’s radar for months and is now poised to make a bid and test the SPL giants resolve to hold onto him when the transfer window reopens at the start of next year.

Spurs’ chief scout Ian Broomfield has already been sent to Parkhead to run the rule over £10 million-rated Forrest during the Bhoys’ game against Hibernian on Saturday and was impressed by what he saw.

It’s now thought that the North London club are weighing up a bid worth £7 million with a view to bringing him to White Hart Lane despite the winger having two and a half years left on his contract.

Boss Neil Lennon is reportedly set to fight tooth and nail to keep his prized asset north of the border despite Forrest’s ambition to play in the Premier League.

Lennon was full of praise for the Scottish international after the 0-0 draw with Hibs although that is unlikely to keep him at the club with the lure of playing England likely to see him leave in January.

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After a seventeen month absence Martin O’Neill made his return to Premiership management this weekend after being appointed to replace Steve Bruce at Sunderland, who left the club by mutual consent.

The Northern-Irishman was in the stands as the Black Cats lost 2-1 away at Wolves yesterday which means they slide to within a point of the relegation drop zone, having only scored sixteen goals in fourteen matches.

While acknowledging the scale of the task ahead of him, O’Neill seemed enthusiastic and eager to take on the challenge of turning Sunderland’s season around when speaking about his appointment at the club.

‘You want to get yourself established,’ said O’Neill. ‘We had a great season last season, finishing 10th and a wee bit of a disappointing start this time. But we hope that, with a little bit of luck, we can turn things around.’

‘I would like it to be a really successful period and I’m going to try my best to achieve that. That’s what I’ve come for.’

In the short term instilling some confidence in his current crop of players and keeping Sunderland in the top flight be the main targets for O’Neill, but looking long term chairman Ellis Short is expecting regular top ten finishes to be produced by his club.

Speaking about his new manager Short said: ‘Martin has as good a managerial pedigree as you could wish to find, and has proven over the years to be a very astute, top-level manager.’

‘During his time at Aston Villa, he established the club firmly in the top 10 of the Barclays Premier League year-on-year, and this is something we are striving to achieve at Sunderland.’

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‘Having spoken with Martin, I know he is brimming with enthusiasm and anticipation about the challenge of taking Sunderland forward, and I believe he is the perfect choice to deliver the success we all desire.’

Courtesy of the excellent FlamingHairdryer.com

With January fast approaching, there could be a lot more action than usual in the mid-season window, mainly due to contract situations with so many players in the Premier League. With player power beginning to surface around the English top flight, players are now controlling the contract situations and the majority of the agents are always on the lookout for new clubs, and more money.

A staggering 113 players who were registered for Premier League football are out of contract at the end of this season resulting in many clubs looking to either move them on in the summer or risk making a loss in May. There will be plenty of chances to earn a new contract for the future Bosman players, but having now let their contracts run down to just over six months remaining, perhaps the clubs are eager to get rid of them.

The list of out-of-contract players is not just packed with squad players and bit-part first team members, but star internationals that have brought a lot to the Premier League in the past five years or so.

At the end of last season there was not a huge rush to snap up free signings from the Premier League as there was very little to choose from. Hargreaves, Ba and McFadden were about as glamorous as it got last May but this year a team could be built solely from free signings that could well finish in the top half of the league. A club could spend their whole transfer budget on wages for these players and have a better side than most in the Premier League next season.

Click on Junior Hoilett to unveil the Premier League’s Bosman XI available next summer

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Article compiled by Brad Pinard

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Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden has stated that he is happy that Tim Ream has been granted a work permit and will now be able to finalise a transfer to The Reebok Stadium.

Owen Coyle is eager to sign the United States international as a replacement for Gary Cahill, who moved to Chelsea for £7 million.

The North American defender impressed during a trail with The Trotters, but the club were waiting to see if he would be granted permission to work in the United Kingdom before admitting any deal had been done.

However, Ream’s international team-mate revealed the news on Twitter.

“Congrats to @TimReam05 on his work permit and move to Bolton! Welcome to the #BWFC family bro! Looking forward to playing w u,” Holden stated to the social networking site.

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As yet there has been no official announcement on the club’s website, with the legalities still to finalised before the New York Red Bulls’ man can officially become a Bolton player.

By Gareth McKnight

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has refuted Carlos Tevez’s claims that he treated the attacker ‘like a dog’, and feels the opposite could be the case.

The Argentina international has just returned to the Etihad Stadium after an unwarranted three-month leave spell in his homeland, but claimed that Mancini had treated him badly in 2011, especially in regards to his supposed refusal to come off the bench against Bayern Munich.

However, despite not wanting to delve into the issue in too much detail due to the upcoming Europa League fixture against Porto on Thursday, the Italian has defended his conduct during the controversy.

“I don’t want to answer your question because the game is more important than this,” Mancini stated in a press conference, reported by BBC Sport.

“But I answer this question and then no more, because we have this game. It is an important game against a top club like Porto.

“I totally disagree with Carlos, what he said, because I never treated him badly.

“Maybe the opposite, I treated him too well, always,” he concluded.

It remains to be seen whether or not Tevez will play a part for the Premier League leaders during the rest of the campaign, as the club trained without him on Wednesday according to The Telegraph.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Seydou Keita has confessed that a move to Liverpool is one that is highly appealing, according to reports in the Daily Mail.

The Mali international has fallen down the pecking order at the Nou Camp and is looking for a club where he is guaranteed a greater chance of first team football.

The 32-year-old has admitted that it will be an absolute wrench to leave the current European Champions, after four years at the club, but realises that at this stage of his career he needs to be playing on a regular basis:

“A challenge elsewhere would appeal to me, and Liverpool are a great team with great players.

“We will wait until the end of the season to see what happens. I love Barcelona, it is difficult to find a better team than them, but I am ambitious and want to play football every week.”

Seydou Keita has scored 19 goals in 172 games during his time with the Catalan giants.

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It is a never ending row that will go round in circles time and again. Just which league is the best? The Premier League, Serie A, the Bundesliga or La Liga? Ours has the best player in the world says a Spaniard. Ours is the most competitive says a German and ours is the most exciting says an Englishman. The school ground essence to the ‘mine’s better than yours’ debate is difficult to quell but if we are to embrace such a dispute, last week’s Europa League action represented the lesser known Athletic Bilbao winning handsomely against the current English champions; Manchester United.

The victory twinned with both Messi’s and Ronaldo’s sparkling form on the Iberian Peninsula has led to some claiming La Liga is indeed the best with a host of competitive teams being uncelebrated beyond the big two. We have a fantastic top division in this country, but in light of Bilbao’s victory and indeed Spain’s dominance on the international stage in general, we thought we would break the mould (and potentially upset a few people) by listing the top ten worst aspects of the Premier League.

Nothing is ever perfect and although punditry panels containing Jamie Redknapp may relentlessly repeat that the Premier League is the best, the division isn’t immune to a few improvements. Let us cast a more critical eye over this country’s prized asset.

Click on The Emirates Stadium below to see the Top 10

If you think I have been brave (or stupid) enough to mock the league we all love so much, you may want to follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989

Manchester United forward Danny Welbeck will open talks in the summer over a new contract, with the attacker’s wages expected to be tripled, according to Mirror Football.

The home-grown attacker has overtaken Javier Hernandez as Wayne Rooney’s first-choice strike partner, and has played a role in leading the Red Devils to the top of the league.

Welbeck is said to be earning £15,000-a-week currently, but will see his earnings tripled by the Premier League champions, and be offered a new five-year deal at the end of the campaign.

Despite Welbeck’s contract expiring in the summer of 2013, there has been no reason to suggest that he will not extend, and it is said that neither player or club are concerned about the expiring deal.

The attacker has made 38 appearances for United this term, scoring 12 goals, and it is believed that his new contract will have goal-related bonuses written into it also.

Welbeck looks like a shoe-in for England’s 2012 squad, after an excellent year for the sprightly forward.

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By Gareth McKnight

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