Premiership Transfer Window Review - Part Three
David Walker completes his review of the January transfer window and how the moves will impact each teams success, or survival at the end of the 2005/06 season.
Portsmouth
If ever there was a manager who enjoyed a bit of business during the January transfer window it was Harry Redknapp. He is running out of time to form a team capable of keeping Pompey in the top flight after 34 players have come and gone this season.
He has brought in 4.1 million Auxerre striker Benjamin Mwaruwari to try and fill the void left by Yakubu while midfield steel and creativity should come in the form of Tottenham trio Pedro Mendes, Sean Davies and Wayne Routledge. Noe Pamarot, also of Spurs, Ognjen Koroman and goalkeeper Dean Kiely will assist defensive duties.
The most intriguing of Redknapps dealings is the loan capture of Andres DAllesandro, once tipped to be the next big thing out of south America. However, his career stalled following a move to Wolfsburg two and a half years ago.
Pompey are second from bottom in the table and lie five points from safety. The bookmakers dont fancy their chances of survival and quote 4/9 on relegation and 13/8 on staying up.
Sunderland
Sunderland are rooted firmly to the bottom of the table with just nine points from 23 matches and nine points adrift of nearest rivals Portsmouth.
The black Cats are without a home win all season and have won just twice in their last 44 Premiership matches stretching back to a previous stint. Such dire form has made Mick McCarthys side a relegation certainty with odds of 1/1000 being offered.
However, if you believe in miracles, Sunderland are 100/1 to stage the comeback of all comebacks and remain in the Premiership for next season.
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs have been the surprise package of the season thus far and maintain their fourth place position in the Premiership despite a run of three matches without victory and an FA cup exit at the hands of Leicester City.
manager Martin Jol signed Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghali from Feyenoord and Charlton Athletics Danny Murphy. Even though Spurs are four points and two places above north London rivals arsenal the bookmakers do not rate them as highly in the without Chelsea market, pricing the white Hart Lane outfit up at 66/1.
West Bromwich Albion
West Brom are staring at a fight against relegation for the second successive season but have proved they have the stomach for the battle once before. Out of the bottom seven sides in the Premiership the Baggies have won the most home matches which will give manager Bryan Robson optimism.
Nigel Quashie arrived in a 1.5 million deal from Southampton while Jan Kozak and Williams Martinez joined on loan from Artmedia Bratislava and Defensor respectively. Last seasons top goalscorer Robert Earnshaw was allowed to leave for Norwich in a 3.5 million deal. The Baggies are available at 4/5 for relegation but a better bet may be for them to stay up at Evens.
West Ham united
The largest deal of the transfer window was Dean Ashtons 7.25 million arrival from Norwich City. Following his seven goals last season for the Canaries, then fighting a losing battle against Premiership relegation, Ashton is seen as the man who can fire West Ham into Europe this term.
Another striker, Yaniv Katan, joined from Maccabi Haifa for 100,000 while Deportivo defender Lionel Scaloni has signed a loan deal with the club. If you are fond of speculative punts, striker Marlon Harewood, with six goals in his last 12 Premiership matches, is available at 40/1 to top the Premiership goal scoring charts at the end of the season.
Wigan Athletic
Wigan have had a remarkable first season in the Premiership. They are fifth in the table, one place above former Champions arsenal, just three points adrift of a Champions League spot and a place in the Carling cup final secured.
Paul Jewell has worked wonders at the JJB stadium and it is not surprising chairman Dave Whelan has sanctioned a 2 million move for Brann defender Paul Scharner, the free transfer of midfielder David Thompson and loan arrivals for Liverpools Neil Mellor and Tottenham Hotspurs Reto Ziegler.
It would be foolish to bet against the Latics qualifying for Europe next season but at present they are the only side in the top 10 with a minus goal difference. They are 300/1 outsiders to win the Premiership in the without Chelsea market.
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Dining Out, Weighing In - Restaurant Meals Are Higher in Calories
With two out of three Americans overweight today, its getting harder to believe that all this extra fat is a simple problem of self-indulgence or poor personal discipline.
In fact, researchers and clinicians from various sciences say unequivocally that its not. Certainly adults are responsible for what they put in their mouths. But when so many are affected, from all across the American demographic, we have to also look whats going on in our culture at large.
And one thing thats going on is that theres a lot more going out. In 1978, just 18 percent of the calories Americans consumed were eaten away from home. But by 2003, that was up to half.
Why should that even matter? A calorie is a calorie is a calorie, right?
At the bottom line, yes. The trouble is that when we eat out, we simply have much less control over what ends up on our plates, and from there, on our bottom line. That shows up in a variety of ways.
nutritional research indicates that for almost any given dish that you might choose to prepare at home, when its compared to a restaurant dish of the same name, its often not the same thing at all. So even trying to consciously select what looks like the healthiest choice on the menu might not do you much good.
Restaurants tend to use more oils and fats, more sugar, and more salt in their food preparations. The reason is simple: if the food is yummy, youll come back! But that tends to add up to a lot of extra calories you werent counting on.
And speaking of extras, how about all those extra nibbles: the plates of appetizers, the baskets of warm bread with pots of cool butter, the bonus beverage specials? most families simply dont have all those edible accouterments with regular home meals.
But at a restaurant, your drinks are brought before you even order. You often get bread or rolls to eat during your wait, and appetizers and desserts are helpfully suggested by your server.
Yet those extras can have even more calories than your meals! An order of buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing? Thats a tidy 1,010 calories before dinner. For a fried onion blossom with dip, figure around 2,000. Even a basket of garlic bread is about 800 calories. How many people are sharing those calories at your table?
Then you get to the main attraction, and the major problem with dining outportion size! Restaurant meals are often three to four times larger than a normal serving size.
Even plates, glassware and utensils have grown. Very often, the dinner plate you get in a restaurant would qualify as a platter in any home kitchen, but then, they have to be bigger to accommodate those super servings!
It wouldnt be such an issue if we were better at walking away. An old adage about fitness says that the most important exercise to do is pushbacks, as in, when youve had enough, push back and get up from the table.
But research shows that Americans in general tend to be completers, and many of us were raised to feel a sense of guilt if we left food on our plates. Add that programming to a giant dish of pasta, and suddenly, youre stuffed!
The truth is, no matter how we're raised, or whether we're slim or fat, if more is put in front of us we'll eat more, period. And usually, we're not even particularly aware of it. This has been proven out by study after study, in both the United States and abroad.
And that's not all. The research also shows that as we become accustomed to those mega-sized meals were presented in restaurants, we tend to prepare bigger portions at home, as well. We may not use all the extra oil, salt and sugar that restaurants do, but were certainly having more of our main ingredients, and were eating big and hearty.
The other thing that restaurants have over the home meal is variety. Even the most accommodating home cook typically wont make a different special meal for each member of the family. Again, the nutritional research shows that the more different things you can have, the more youll eat overall.
United States Department of Agriculture studies showed that when offered three varieties of a given food itemsay, sandwiches or cookiespeople would eat more than if they were offered three items of the same variety. Thats part of why those all-you-can-eat buffets are such a caloric catastrophe. Who ever has just a little?
Given the demands of todays busy lifestyles, dining out nowadays is not only a pleasure, but a time-saving survival tool. Restaurants may eventually be required to provide nutritional facts for their meals, but even without hard numbers, awareness of the pitfalls can go a long way toward helping us control those calorie counts.
We just need to think about what were up against when someone else is serving, so that when were eating out, were not taking so much in.
Caroline J. Cederquist, M.D. is a board certified Family Physician and a board certified bariatric Physicians (the medical specialty of weight management). Dr. Cederquist is the founder of Bistro MD a home diet delivery program that specializes in low calorie gourmet food that is delivered to your home or office and a practicing bariatric physician.
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Desktop or Laptop? Choose the Right Computer For You!
When considering the purchase of a new computer, many people find themselves asking - should I buy a desktop or laptop computer? I buy over one hundred computers a year for my clients, and am often asked this same question. In this article I will share with you the same advice I give my clients.
Cost Considerations
Laptops are generally speaking, more expensive than desktops. A similarly equipped laptop going to cost at least 25% more initially, but the lifetime of the average laptop is generally shorter than than the lifetime of the average desktop. Face it - laptops are fragile, and the inevitible bumps and bruises eventually take their toll. The bottom line is, the portability of a laptop comes at a premium price.
Some people create a "home space" for their laptops, with include such accessories and peripherals as an external monitor, keyboard, mouse, scanner, and/or printer. If you can afford it, this scenario gives you the best of both worlds.
speed
Laptops, generally speaking, are slower than desktops. There are many factors that go into the speed of a computer, and obviously some laptops are faster than some desktops. However, generally speaking:
-- Laptops are designed to run on battery power. Their components begin to power down after brief periods of non-use, and it takes time for them to come back to life.
-- All but the high end laptop hard drives are 5400rpm, whereas entry level desktop hard drives are 7200rpm. More RPMS means more speed, but also requires more power.
-- laptop processors use much less energy...and therefore can't perform as many operations in the same amount of time as a desktop processor.
Do you NEED Portability?
If you don't need the portability, get a desktop. I have clients who paid big money for a high dollar laptop, docking station, separate keyboard, mouse, and monitor...only to have it sit on their desk. Maybe portability to you means you like to sit on the couch at night and surf the web - fine. (I do that myself!) but if your computer is not going to move, save the money and get a faster computer - buy a desktop.
Ergonomics
Due to the very nature of laptops, they do not typically provide as good of ergonomics as desktop machines. If you spend a lot of time on your computer, and plan to buy a laptop, you may need to create a space with good ergonomics to work. There are many resources on the web to help you do this - just Google ergonomics.
Theft
Another consideration is the possibility of theft. Laptops are at the top of the list for petty thieves, and you must guard them carefully when you are out and about. There are theft recovery systems such as Lojack available to help you recover your computer if stolen, for a price.
Summary
The decision of whether to buy a laptop or a desktop is an important one. Carefully consider your budget and the other points discussed above, and then make the right decision for you. Once you have your new computer, visit my website for plenty of other great information on keeping it running fast and smoothly.
Rich Pryor has been an I.T. Consultant for nearly 20 years, and is the author of numerous articles and books, including Computer Secrets Unleashed! For tips, tricks, and a free download of "The top 15 computer Mistakes", visit SelfGeek.com
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