Love is an illusion!

Love is an illusion!
Its a highly dependency disorder
of weak hearted people..
.
.
.
.
People with strong hearts
believe in FLIRTING :p

Jonas Brothers : Sorry

Broken hearts and last goodbyes
Restless nights by lullabies helps make this pain go away
I realize I let you down, told you that I'd be around
Building up the strength just to say

I'm sorry for breaking all the promises
That I wasn't around to keep
You told me this time is the last time
That I will ever beg you to stay
But you're already on your way

Filled with sorrow, filled with pain
Knowing that I am to blame for leaving your heart out in the rain
And I know you're going to walk away
Leave me with the price to pay, before you go I wanted to say

That I'm sorry for breaking all the promises
That I wasn't around to keep
You told me this time is the last time
I will ever beg you to stay
But you're already on your way

I can't make it alive on my own
But if you have to go then please girl just leave me alone
'Cause I don't wanna see you and me going our separate ways
Begging you to stay if it isn't too late

I'm sorry for breaking all the promises
That I wasn't around to keep
It's all of me, this time is the last time
I will ever beg you to stay
But you're already on your way
But you're already on your way

Excellent road sentence

An Excellent RoAd sentence
Written on National Highway:

Go Slow,
Unless U Have An Urgent Appointment With God!

The White Pele Peterborough winger George Boyd hopes to earn his Spurs

The White Pele Peterborough winger George Boyd hopes to earn his Spurs

They call George Boyd 'The White Pele', but not because the Peterborough winger bears any particular resemblance to the great Brazilian.
No, it was Stevenage fans who, when Boyd played for them, inserted his name in a Manchester United chant which christened Wayne Rooney the 'White Pele'.
The nickname has stuck but Boyd, 24, has left non-league football behind.
White Pele: George Boyd
A £260,000 move to Peterboroughthree years ago - then a record for a non-League player - and twosuccessive promotions sees Boyd play in the Championship, somethingthat seemed a world away when he was released by Charlton at 15.
Boyd said: 'It's been an unbelievable couple of years. I never thought I'd be playingin the Championship.
'Nobody ever expected us to get two (promotions) in two (years). The chairman (Darragh MacAnthony) had his targets but nobody ever thought that we would get it.
'When you've come from the bottom you can enjoy it more. If you'd been in the Premier League and then been released, you could be a bit bitter, but most of us non-league boys are just happy to be where we are.'
Boyd joined Stevenage at 16, combining football with a college course and working for two hours a day in a sweet shop at Hitchin station to pay for his fare back to Kent at the weekends.
'I wouldn't have changed the experience for anything else,' he said.
'It just makes you grow up a lot quicker. If you get released you're best off going down a few leagues to keep playing football.The whole (Charlton) team got released and I don't think there are many still playing.
'You can easily go down that road, but you've just got to keep going.'
Today Boyd leads out Peterborough at Tottenham Hotspur in the third round of the FA Cup.
Dangerous duo: Craig Mackail Smith and George Boyd
Spurs are fourth in the Premier League but Peterborough, bottom of the Championship, can take heart from their remarkable comeback last Monday against Cardiff. They were 4-0 down at half-time but came back to draw 4-4.
Boyd said: 'At half-time I think everyone just wanted to go home, it was embarrassing.Our pride got us back. It was unbelievable.
'I don't think anyone can say our character's not there. I just think it's belief, that we have to start playing before we are 3-0 down.'
Boyd has seen the goals from Tottenham's 9-1 annihilationof Wigan and added: 'They're a very attacking team. You want to test yourself against the best players, but we can't let the occasion get to us.
'We can't just turn up and be in awe of the whole stadium, we've got to put up a fight and hopefully try and get something out of the game.
'However good they are, they might have a bad day and we might play the best game we've ever played. You've got to go there with that mentality.
'It's occasions like this we wanted to play in when we started in non-League.'
Tottenham's open style may just suit Boyd. Peterboroughare five points adrift of safety in the Championship with a new man, Mark Cooper, in charge after DarrenFerguson's departure in November, but Boyd has scored 12 goals this season and provided 10 assists from his position on the left wing.
He attributes his run of form to the influence of his old boss.
Earning his Spurs: Boyd wants to gun down Tottenham
Boyd said: 'Darren Fergusonimproved my game loads and I got on really well with him. Football-wise he brought me on leaps and bounds. Physically I've come on, too.
'Darren will definitely get a job at a Premier League club and manage at the top level. He's got the attributes. He might have another go at a Championship club first but once he's got the experience I think he'll go to manage at the highest level.'
Another Scot who Boyd has his eye on is Craig Levein, the new international manager.
Boyd played for Scotland'B' last April when George Burley was in charge and qualifies through his paternalgrandfather,Richard, who was born in Motherwell.
The phone hasn't rung yet, but an impressive performanceat White Hart Lane will do the 'White Pele' no harm at all.
THREE POSH PLAYERS TO WATCH...Craig Mackail-Smith: Cost £125,000 from Dagenham and Redbridge, where he wasn't prolific but has since scored 61 goals in 135 games.
Aaron McLean: Failed to make it at Orient and drifted into the non-League scene, scoring regularly for Grays. Now hit 63 goals in 138 games for Posh.
Joe Lewis: Cost £400,000 from Norwich. 6ft 6in goalkeeper, who has already been picked by Fabio Capello for the England squad.
TOTTENHAM v Peterborough: Injured pair Aaron Lennon and Benoit Assou-Ekotto ruled out for SpursPeterborough 4 Cardiff 4: Bish-bash Posh! Jones' fury as Cardiff blow four-goal leadDarren Ferguson is on my list of possible managers insists Preston chairman

I have been replaced

I have tried to move on
but with every guy
I feel more & more
like I’ll never be able to replace u.
And the sad thing is…
I know I have already been replaced

Ceres (dwarf planet)

Ceres, formally designated 1 Ceres, is the smallest identified dwarf planet in the Solar System and the only one in the asteroid belt. It was discovered on 1 January 1801, by Giuseppe Piazzi,^[17] and for half a century it was classified as the eighth planet. It is named after Ceres, the Roman goddess of growing plants, the harvest, and motherly love.

With a diameter of about 950 km (590 mi), Ceres is by far the largest and most massive body in the asteroid belt, and contains a third (32%) of the belt's total mass.^[18][19] Recent observations have revealed that it is spherical, unlike the irregular shapes of smaller bodies with lower gravity.^[11] The surface of Ceres is probably a mixture of water ice and various hydrated minerals like carbonates and clays.^[12] Ceres appears to be differentiated into a rocky core and ice mantle.^[6] It may harbour an ocean of liquid water underneath its surface.^[20][21]

From the Earth, Ceres' apparent magnitude ranges from 6.7 to 9.3, and hence at its brightest it is still too dim to be seen with the naked eye.^[13] On 27 September 2007, NASA launched the Dawn space probe to explore Vesta (2011–2012) and Ceres

Discovery

The idea that an undiscovered planet could exist between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter was first suggested by Johann Elert Bode in 1768.^[17] His considerations were based on the so called Titius–Bode law, a now-abandoned theory which had been proposed by Johann Daniel Titius in 1766.^[17][23] This pattern predicted a semi-major axis near 2.8 AU for the missing planet's orbit.^[23] William Herschel's discovery of Uranus in 1781^[17] increased faith in the law of Titius and Bode, and in 1800, they sent requests to twenty-four experienced astronomers, asking that they combine their efforts and begin a methodical search for the proposed planet.^[17][23] The group was headed by Franz Xaver von Zach, editor of the Monatliche Correspondenz. While they did not discover Ceres, they later found several large asteroids.^[23]

Piazzi's Book "Della scoperta del nuovo pianeta Cerere Ferdinandea" outlining the discovery of Ceres

One of the astronomers selected for the search was Giuseppe Piazzi at the Academy of Palermo, Sicily. However, before receiving his invitation to join the group, Giuseppe Piazzi discovered Ceres on 1 January 1801.^[24] He was searching for a star listed by Francis Wollaston as Mayer 87, because it was not in Mayer's zodiacal catalogue in the position given.^[17] Instead of a star, Piazzi found a moving star-like object, which he first thought was a comet.^[25] Piazzi observed Ceres a total of 24 times, the final time on 11 February 1801, when illness interrupted his observations. He announced his discovery on 24 January 1801 in letters to fellow astronomers, among them his compatriot Barnaba Oriani of Milan. He reported it as a comet but "since its movement is so slow and rather uniform, it has occurred to me several times that it might be something better than a comet".^[17] In April, Piazzi sent his complete observations to Oriani, Johann Elert Bode, and Jérôme Lalande in Paris. The information was published in the September 1801 issue of the Monatliche Correspondenz.^[25]

Soon after this, Ceres' apparent position had changed (mostly due to the Earth's orbital motion). It then appeared too close to the Sun's glare, so other astronomers could not confirm the observations of Piazzi until the end of the year. However, after such a long time it was difficult to predict its exact position. To recover Ceres, Carl Friedrich Gauss, then 24 years old, developed an efficient method of orbit determination.^[25] He set himself the task of determining a Keplerian motion from three complete observations (time, right ascension, declination). Mathematically, this means determining a conic section in space, given one focus (the sun) and the conic's intersection with three given lines (lines of sight from the earth, which is itself moving on an ellipse, to the planet) and given the time it takes the planet to traverse the arcs determined by these lines (from which the lengths of the arcs can be calculated by Kepler's Second Law). This problem leads to an equation of the eighth degree, of which one solution, the Earth's orbit, is known. The solution sought is then separated from the remaining six on the basis of physical conditions. In this work Gauss used comprehensive approximation methods which he created for that purpose.^[26] In only a few weeks, he predicted its path and sent his results to von Zach. On 31 December 1801, von Zach and Heinrich W. M. Olbers found Ceres near the predicted position and thus recovered it.^[25]

The diameter of Ceres was estimated as 260 km by Herschel in 1802, and as 2,613 km by Johann Hieronymus Schröter in 1811

Name

Piazzi originally suggested the name Ceres Ferdinandea (Italian, Cerere Ferdinandea) for this body, after both the mythological figure Ceres (Roman goddess of plants) and King Ferdinand of Two Sicilies.^[17][25] "Ferdinandea" was not acceptable to other nations of the world and was thus dropped. Ceres was also called Hera for a short time in Germany.^[29] In Greece, it is called Δήμητρα (Demeter), after the goddess Ceres' Greek equivalent; in English usage, Demeter is the name of an asteroid (1108 Demeter). Due to its uncommon usage, there is no consensus as to the proper adjectival form of the name, although the nonce forms Cerian and Cerean^[19] have been used in fiction. Etymologically, the form Cererean would be correct, derived from its Latin genitive, Cereris.^[30] Ceres' astronomical symbol is a sickle, (), similar to Venus' symbol () which is the female gender symbol and Venus' hand mirror.^[25][31] The element Cerium, discovered in 1803, was named after Ceres.^[32] The element Palladium, also discovered in 1803, was originally also named after Ceres, but the discoverer changed its name after Cerium was named. Palladium was renamed for 2 Pallas, the asteroid discovered in 1802.[

Status

The classification of Ceres has changed more than once and has been the subject of some disagreement. Johann Elert Bode believed Ceres to be the "missing planet" he had proposed to exist between Mars and Jupiter, at a distance of 419 million km (2.8 AU) from the Sun.^[17] Ceres was assigned a planetary symbol, and remained listed as a planet in astronomy books and tables (along with 2 Pallas, 3 Juno and 4 Vesta) for about half a century until further asteroids were discovered.^[17][25][34]

However, as other objects were discovered in the area it was realised that Ceres represented the first of a class of many similar bodies.^[17] Sir William Herschel coined in 1802 the term asteroid ("star-like") for such bodies,^[34] writing "they resemble small stars so much as hardly to be distinguished from them, even by very good telescopes".^[35] As the first such body to be discovered, it was given the designation 1 Ceres under the modern system of asteroid numbering.^[34]

The 2006 debate surrounding Pluto and what constitutes a 'planet' led to Ceres being considered for reclassification as a planet.^[36][37] A proposal before the International Astronomical Union for the definition of a planet would have defined a planet as "a celestial body that (a) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (b) is in orbit around a star, and is neither a star nor a satellite of a planet".^[38] Had this resolution been adopted, it would have made Ceres the fifth planet in order from the Sun.^[39] However, it was not accepted, and in its place an alternate definition of "planet" came into effect as of 24 August 2006: A planet is "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit." By this definition, Ceres is not a planet because it shares its orbit with the thousands of other asteroids in the main belt and is now classified as a "dwarf planet" (along with Pluto, Makemake, Haumea and Eris). The issue of whether Ceres remains an asteroid was not addressed.^[40] Dual classifications such as main-belt comets do exist, and being a dwarf planet does not preclude having other designations

Physical characteristics

Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter.^[12] The Kuiper belt is known to contain larger objects, including Pluto, 50000 Quaoar, and 90482 Orcus, while more distant Eris, in the scattered disc, is the largest of all these bodies.^[42]

The mass of Ceres has been determined by analysis of the influence it exerts on small asteroids. Results obtained by different authors are slightly different.^[43] The average of the three most precise values as of 2008 is approximately 9.4 × 10²⁰ kg.^[7][43] With this mass Ceres comprises about a third of the estimated total 3.0 ± 0.2 × 10²¹ kg mass of the asteroids in the solar system,^[44] together totalling about four percent of the mass of the Moon. Ceres' size and mass are sufficient to give it a nearly spherical shape.^[6] That is, it is close to hydrostatic equilibrium. In contrast, other large asteroids such as 2 Pallas,^[45] 3 Juno,^[46] 4 Vesta^[47] and in particular 10 Hygiea^[48] are known to be quite irregular.

Peter Thomas of Cornell University has proposed that Ceres has a differentiated interior;^[6] its oblateness appears too small for an undifferentiated body, which indicates that it consists of a rocky core overlain with an icy mantle.^[6] This 100 km-thick mantle (23–28 percent of Ceres by mass; 50 percent by volume^[49]) contains 200 million cubic kilometres of water, which is more than the amount of fresh water on the Earth.^[50] This result is supported by the observations made by the Keck telescope in 2002 and by evolutionary modelling.^[7][20] Also, some characteristics of its surface and history (such as its distance from the Sun, which weakened solar radiation enough to allow some fairly low-freezing-point components to be incorporated during its formation), point to the presence of volatile materials in the interior of Ceres.^[7]

Alternatively, the shape and dimensions of Ceres may be explained by an interior that is porous and either partially differentiated or completely undifferentiated. The presence of a layer of rock on top of ice would be gravitationally unstable. If any of the rock deposits sank into a layer of differentiated ice, salt deposits would be formed. Such deposits have not been detected. Thus it is possible that Ceres does not contain a large ice shell, but was instead formed from low density asteroids with an aqueous component. The decay of radioactive isotopes may not have been sufficient to cause differentiation

Surface

The surface composition of Ceres is broadly similar to that of C-type asteroids.^[12] However, some differences do exist. The ubiquitous features in the IR spectra of Ceres are that of hydrated materials, which indicates the presence of significant amounts of water in the interior of this body. Other possible surface constituents include iron-rich clays (cronstedtite) and carbonates (dolomite and siderite), which are common minerals in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites.^[12] The spectral features of carbonates and clay are usually absent in the spectra of other C-type asteroids.^[12] Sometimes Ceres is classified as G-type asteroid.^[52]

The surface of Ceres is relatively warm. The maximum temperature with the Sun overhead was estimated from measurements to be 235 K (about −38 °C) on 5 May 1991.^[16] Taking into account also the heliocentric distance at the time, this gives an estimated maximum of about 239 K at perihelion.

Diagram showing a possible internal structure of Ceres

Only a few features have been unambiguously detected on the surface of Ceres. High resolution ultraviolet Hubble Space Telescope images taken in 1995 showed a dark spot on its surface which was nicknamed "Piazzi" in honour of the discoverer of Ceres.^[52] This was thought to be a crater. Later near-infrared images with a higher resolution taken over a whole rotation with the Keck telescope using adaptive optics showed several bright and dark features moving with the dwarf planet's rotation.^[7][53] Two dark features had circular shapes and are presumably craters; one of them was observed to have a bright central region, while another was identified as the "Piazzi" feature.^[7][53] More recent visible light Hubble Space Telescope images of a full rotation taken in 2003 and 2004 showed 11 recognizable surface features, the nature of which are currently unknown.^[11][54] One of these features corresponds to the "Piazzi" feature observed earlier.^[11]

These last observations also determined that Ceres' north pole points in the direction of right ascension 19 h 24 min (291°), declination +59°, in the constellation Draco. This means that Ceres' axial tilt is very small—about 3°

Atmosphere

There are indications that Ceres may have a tenuous atmosphere and water frost on the surface.^[55] Surface water ice is not stable at distances less than 5 AU from the Sun,^[56] so it is expected to sublimate if it is exposed directly to solar radiation. Water ice can migrate from the deep layers of Ceres to the surface, but will escape in a very short time. As a result, it is difficult to detect water vaporization. Water escaping from Ceres's polar regions was possibly observed in the early 90s but this has not been unambiguously proven. It may be possible to detect escaping water from the surroundings of a fresh impact crater or from cracks in the sub-surface layers of Ceres.^[7] Ultraviolet observations by IUE spacecraft detected statistically significant hydroxide water vapour near the Cererean north pole

Orbit

Ceres follows an orbit between Mars and Jupiter, within the main asteroid belt, with a period of 4.6 Earth years. The orbit is moderately inclined (i = 10.6° compared to 7° for Mercury and 17° for Pluto) and moderately eccentric (e = 0.08 compared to 0.09 for Mars).^[4]

The diagram illustrates the orbits of Ceres (blue) and several planets (white and grey). The segments of orbits below the ecliptic are plotted in darker colours, and the orange plus sign is the Sun's location. The top left diagram is a polar view that shows the location of Ceres in the gap between Mars and Jupiter. The top right is a close-up demonstrating the locations of the perihelia (q) and aphelia (Q) of Ceres and Mars. The perihelion of Mars is on the opposite side of the Sun from those of Ceres and several of the large main belt asteroids, including 2 Pallas and 10 Hygiea. The bottom diagram is a side view showing the inclination of the orbit of Ceres compared to the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

In the past, Ceres had been considered to be a member of an asteroid family.^[57] These groupings of asteroids share similar orbital elements, which may indicate a common origin through an asteroid collision some time in the past. Ceres, however, was found to have spectral properties different from other members of the family, and so this grouping is now called the Gefion family, named after the next-lowest-numbered family member, 1272 Gefion.^[57] Ceres appears to be merely an interloper in its own family, coincidentally having similar orbital elements but not a common origin.^[58] The rotational period of Ceres is 9 hours and 4 minutes

Transits of planets from Ceres

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars can all appear to cross the Sun, or transit it, from a vantage on Ceres. The most common transits are those of Mercury, which usually does so every few years, most recently in 2006 and next in 2010. The corresponding dates are 1953 and 2051 for Venus, 1814 and 2081 for Earth, and 767 and 2684 for Mars.

Origin and evolution

Ceres appears to be a surviving protoplanet (planetary embryo), which formed 4.57 billion years ago in the asteroid belt.^[60] While the majority of inner solar system protoplanets (including all lunar- to Mars-sized bodies) either merged with other protoplanets to form terrestrial planets or were ejected from the Solar System by Jupiter,^[60] Ceres survived relatively intact.^[20] (Another possible protoplanet, Vesta, is smaller; it suffered a major impact after solidifying, losing ~1% of its mass.^[47]) However, there is a chance that Ceres formed in the Kuiper Belt and later migrated to the asteroid belt.^[61]

Further evolution of Ceres was relatively simple. Heated by the energy of accretion and by decay of various radionuclides including, possibly, short-lived elements like ²⁶Al, Ceres differentiated into a rocky core and icy mantle soon after its formation.^[11][20] This event caused resurfacing by water volcanism and tectonics, erasing older geological features.^[20] However, due to its small size, Ceres cooled down quickly, and resurfacing processes stopped.^[20][21] The ice on the surface gradually sublimated, leaving behind various hydrated minerals like clays and carbonates.^[12] Now Ceres is a geologically dead body, whose surface is being sculpted only by impacts.^[11]

The presence of significant amounts of water ice in its composition^[6] raises the possibility that Ceres has or had a layer of liquid water in its interior.^[20][21] This hypothetical layer is often called an ocean.^[12] The water layer is (or was) probably located between the rocky core and ice mantle like that of Europa.^[20] The existence of an ocean is more likely if ammonia or other antifreeze compounds are dissolved in the water

Observations

When Ceres has an opposition near the perihelion, it can reach a visual magnitude of +6.7.^[13] This is generally regarded as being just barely too dim to be seen with the naked eye, but under exceptional viewing conditions a very sharp-sighted person may be able to see this dwarf planet. The only other asteroids that can reach a similarly bright magnitude are 4 Vesta, and, during rare oppositions near perihelion, 2 Pallas and 7 Iris.^[62] At a conjunction Ceres has a magnitude of around +9.3, which corresponds to the faintest objects visible with 10×50 binoculars. It can thus be seen with binoculars whenever it is above the horizon of a fully dark sky.

Some notable observational milestones for Ceres include:

• An occultation of a star by Ceres observed in Mexico, Florida and across the Caribbean on 13 November 1984.^[63]
• Ultraviolet Hubble Space Telescope images with 50 km resolution taken on 25 June 1995.^[52][64]
• Infrared images with 30 km resolution taken with the Keck telescope in 2002 using adaptive optics.^[53]
• Visible light images with 30 km resolution (the best to date) taken using Hubble in 2003 and 2004

Exploration

To date, no space probe has visited Ceres. Radio signals from spacecraft in orbit around and on the surface of Mars have been used to estimate the mass of Ceres from its perturbations on the motion of Mars.^[44]

However, NASA launched the Dawn Mission on 27 September 2007, which will explore the asteroid 4 Vesta in 2011 before arriving at Ceres in 2015.^[22] The mission profile calls for the Dawn spacecraft to enter orbit around Ceres at an altitude of 5,900 km. The spacecraft will reduce its orbital distance to 1,300 km after five months of study, and then down to 700 km after another five months.^[65] The spacecraft instrumentation includes a framing camera, a visual and infrared spectrometer, and a gamma-ray and neutron detector. These will be used to examine the dwarf planet's shape and elemental composition

Girl fully exhausted

A young girl after her honeymoon
came fully exhausted and tired,

When her friends asked her what happened?

She replied :
When this 70 year old bastard told me
he has saved a lot from last 50 years,

“I thought It was MONEY”

The start of the January sales: Liverpool target Rodriguez, Van Nistelrooy, Pavlyuchenko & Torisidis

Comment & analysis round-up

Quote of the day: “If Wenger said that after that game, he must be a very good magician. I have never said that Chelsea are unbeatable. There is no such team in football. We have had some problems in December and didn’t win some important games. But the fact is that we are still top of the table and that means we have done better than any other team over the first six months. Chelsea are in first place and we deserve to be there. We have done a very good job to maintain that position even though we have dropped some points by drawing against Everton, West Ham and Birmingham recently. But the other teams have also had their bad moments and we have come through our period that was not so good. Now I think the problems are over for Chelsea.” - Carlo Ancelotti on Arsene Wenger’s claim that Chelsea were vulnerable after their 3-0 win at the Emirates in November.

Runner-up: ”If we keep on playing like that no team can beat us. We continue to improve but we’re stronger this season. We know we are in a strong position. Chelsea can drop points again, we know it is not easy for any side to play so many matches. We need to try and win every game.” - Alex Song.

Today’s overview: Welcome to 2010. As would be expected transfer lies dominate on the opening day of the transfer window with Liverpool leading the chase for a host of players. There is also analysis of Portsmouth’s problems and the FA Cup.

Portsmouth’s woes dominate this morning after their players went unpaid again yesterday and French club Lens called for them to be shut down.

Matt Dickinson is pessimistic comparing Portsmouth with Leeds. “Without a quick injection of funds, the only player movement this month will be via the exit, thereby guaranteeing relegation, which most believe inevitable. And then does administration loom? What is rock bottom? For Leeds, it has been three seasons in League One and, more humiliatingly still, a billing of minnows as they travel to face Manchester United on Sunday.”

Following Gary Megson’s departure at Bolton, Harry Redknapp urges bosses to be given time. “I’m probably only dreaming but how I’d like to see chairmen take things into perspective, to realise what the achievable really is and what constitutes success. Hodgson has had time to impose his style and philosophy. Not many others have been so lucky.”

Mike Norrish in the Telegrah defends the departure of Megson. “Bolton hated seeing their forwards being taken off when they were winning games, and were mortified that he sent out a reserve side against Sporting Lisbon in the Uefa Cup. They didn’t want to be blamed, by Megson , for the club’s defeats. And in short, they didn’t want supporting Bolton to be such a joyless experience. Perhaps results will be worse without him, but from their point of view, nothing could be worse than the status quo.” Peter Reid has emerged as the favourite for the Bolton job, although an Alan Shearer-Gary Speed dream team has been mentioned.

Sir Alex Ferguson has brought some good tidings for Manchester United, commenting on the return of Rio Ferdinand to training. Daniel Taylor in The Guardian is less optimistic, highlighting Ferguson’s comments that the England defender is “nowhere near” a comeback. And looking ahead to the FA Cup clash with Leeds on Sunday, Simon Grayson gives his thoughts of what it will be like to take his team to Old Trafford.

Laura Williamson in the Daily Mail reports how West Ham have begged their fans to be a “12th man” for the FA Cup clash with Arsenal. “Such is the loss of standing of the FA Cup that West Ham have been forced to send out a begging email to their fans to attend their third round glamour tie against Arsenal at Upton Park on Sunday. In a damning indictment on the oldest cup competition in the world, the club has struggled to sell tickets for what should be one the biggest, most prestigious weekends in the domestic football calendar and one of the ties of the round — a repeat of the 1980 final, won by Sir Trevor Brooking’s diving header.” Jeff Powell provides a solution to the woes of the FA Cup - give the winners a Champions League spot.

Andy Cole uses his column in The Independent to hail his old boss Sir Alex Ferguson and to look back on 2009. Premier League player of 2009: “Tough because there are lots of contenders, including Cristiano Ronaldo in his last half-season at Manchester United. Of those still in England, I hand the award jointly to one player from each of the ‘big four’, each one of whom has stepped up to the plate, big time: Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas.”

Andy Gray in the Daily Mail backs Chelsea to win the league. “Carlo Ancelotti has a couple of selection issues to tackle. If he does that successfully, I think they will win it. Ancelotti may need to be flexible, as he was during the Fulham game when he changed from the midfield diamond to his trusted 4-4-2 and it won them the game. He won’t get nervous, he won’t get flustered. Sir Alex Ferguson will be wasting his time playing mind-games with him. He’ll try, mind you! They are harder to beat than anyone else up there.”

The Big Interview in The Guardian is with Nottingham Forest manager Billy Davies, who explains how he has won some sceptical fans around. “I got a lot of letters condemning my appointment and saying I should not be at Forest. I’ve still got them. But now I’m getting loads of emails, letters and cards from Forest fans delighted with what they’re seeing. And the great thing about the letters – and many are from fans who’ve watched Forest for 30 or 40 years – is that they’re talking about how they enjoy the style of football.”

Sam Wallace lists 5 young players that he expects to make an impact in the next 12 months. Wallace also features Aaron Ramsey after his fine performance for Arsenal at Fratton Park on Wednesday. “The debate over Ramsey is whether he plays as the holding midfielder or more advanced, a position that belongs to Fabregas when he is fit. Watching him you cannot help but feel that he would be wasted in a holding position where plenty of average tacklers have made their name.”

The first day of the transfer window sees no shortage of spurious rumours with Liverpool taking center stage. Gary Jacob claims the Merseyside giants have made a bid for Maxi Rodriguez, in the Mail Benitez is closing in on Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roman Pavyluchenko and following the injury to Glen Johnson Olympiakos right back Vasilis Torisidis could also be heading to Anfield.

Aside from the potential comings and goings at Liverpool, Manchester City have rejected a bid from Birmingham for in-form keeper Joe Hart. But Roberto Mancini is interested in Zlatan Ibrahimovic & Maicon (like these transfers will happen!) and Ivan Cordoba.

Chelsea are linked with a major move for David Villa by the ever unreliable Daily Express and Arsenal have signed a Brazilian striker, Wellington Silva. Despite the fact we can expect Spurs to be linked with a new player every day for the next month, Harry Redknapp has said it is “highly unlikely” he will bring anyone in.

Fulham are after Roma striker Stefano Okaka, Sunderland are preparing moves for Alan Hutton and Keiran Westwood and Aston Villa want to sign James Beattie.

Happy New Year 2010!

Good resolutions are simply checks
that men draw on a bank
where they have no account.
Happy New Year.

Time has no divisions to mark its passage; there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols.

Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go

In the New Year, may your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, never in want.

Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to. ~Bill Vaughn

New Year’s ReflectionsLooking back on the months gone by,
As a new year starts and an old one ends,
We contemplate what brought us joy,
And we think of our loved ones and our friends.Recalling all the happy times,
Remembering how they enriched our lives,
We reflect upon who really counts,
As the fresh and bright new year arrives.And when I/we ponder those who do,
I/we immediately think of you.Thanks for being one of the reasonsI'll/We'll have a Happy New Year!

By Joanna Fuchs

Happy New Year 2010!!

Portsmouth 1-4 Arsenal: The Daily Mirror match report

A happy New Year for Arsene Wenger. But deeply worrying times for Avram Grant.

The start of a new decade may at last herald the coming of age for Wenger’s emerging Arsenal youngsters after a commanding win at Fratton Park thrust them firmly back into the title race.

It was ruthless, clinical and just the sort of message which Arsenal needed to send out as they drew to within four points of Premier League leaders Chelsea with a game in hand.

But 2010 promises to be a very different year for Portsmouth as even their fiercely loyal fans at last turned on the club’s board as they chanted abuse at the Arab owners and sang: “Where’s our money gone?“

It was little wonder either as last night’s defeat came after a devastating day in which a winding-up petition was served by the HMRC on the crisis club.

And, frankly, the last team you want to play when you are at your lowest ebb is Arsenal at the moment as Wenger’s football artists tore Portsmouth apart with a ruthless victory.

But perhaps even more worrying for Portsmouth was that Arsenal did not even need to be anywhere near their best to beat the bottom club who, up until last night, had always shown heart despite their deficiencies.

In the end, it was all too easy and no matter the crisis at Fratton Park this was still a result which will make the rest of the Premier League sit up, take notice and realise that Arsenal mean business.

Wenger may lack the experienced and hardened campaigners of their title rivals Chelsea and Manchester United, but they have bright and promising talent to give them hope for the new decade.

The second half of the noughties have been lean times for Wenger and even the staunchest of Arsenal fans have questioned his youth policy and over-reliance on young players who have not won a trophy since 2005.

But in Abou Diaby, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Song, they have young players who have developed under Wenger and still have more room for improvement.

Ramsey was 20 on Boxing Day and gets better with every game while Diaby is finally fulfilling his huge potential and showing more consistency. Song scored the pick of Arsenal’s four goals with a stunning 81st minute header.

But Wenger was also quick to praise his midfield trio afterwards for their physical presence and the way they dug in when Portsmouth briefly threatened in the first half.

It is clear that Arsenal not only have quality throughout the team but another ingredient which has been sorely lacking in recent seasons.

Even though Arsenal missed the quality and skill of Cesc Fabregas - and Theo Walcott also dropped out with a muscle injury after yet another setback - they had enough steel to see them through.

Maybe Arsenal were stung and humiliated by the 3-0 humiliation to Chelsea which left them 11 points adrift in the title title race. Maybe they were just out of form. Whatever the reason, that seems a distant memory now.

Arsenal are firing on all cylinders and even without a recognised centre forward, they are the top scorers in the Premier League as last night’s tally of four took them to 51 in 19 games.

After a laboured start, it took a stroke of luck to get Arsenal underway in the 27th minute as Eduardo’s free kick deflected heavily off Younes Kaboul and past Pompey’s helpless keeper Asmir Begovic.

Portsmouth refused to give up until the mood changed after Arsenal got their second in the 42nd minute when Samir Nasri finished off a lovely flowing passing move involving Song, Eduardo and Ramsey.

That was the cue for Portsmouth fans to chant for their own captain, Aaron Mokoena, to be sent off rather than just get a booking for a foul. Portsmouth were jeered off at half time and Mokoena really was that bad.

Portsmouth’s fans chanted abuse at the club’s board and it got worse when substitute Anthony Vanden Borre, on for Mokoena, was dispossessed by Ramsey and the Welsh youngster rifled home a fierce 69th minute drive.

Portsmouth gave themselves some pride when Nadir Belhadj bravely battled to fire home a 74th minute consolation.

But Arsenal finished on a high when Nasri provided a beautiful cross and Song rose at the far post to head home as if he were a centre forward.

It left Arsenal on cloud nine and Portsmouth in despair. Rarely has there been a greater divide between the Premier League’s haves and have nots.