News broke today that a tape, supposedly of England player’s private conversations, exists and is being offered to newspapers. Since then just about everyone who cares has been wondering whether it contains a recording of Fabio Capello giving John Terry a bollocking over the Wayne Bridge affair, or reveals what the players are actually like behind closed doors.

On the pitch, Craig Bellamy showed his quality with two goals in Manchester City’s 4-2 remarkable win at Stamford Bridge this weekend. Off the pitch, he weighed in on the Terry saga and showed the controversial nature that, justified or not, has long gotten in the way of his football career.

According to an upcoming UEFA report seen by the Guardian, debt in the Premier League in 2007/08 was running at just under £3.5 Billion. And that’s only the figure for the 18 healthiest clubs that season. Apparently West Ham and Portsmouth aren’t included in the figure because their finances were so bad they weren’t granted UEFA Licenses in that year. According to UEFA, Premier League club’s liabilities accounted for 56% of European football’s commercial debt that season, more than four times as much as its nearest rival in the race for financial ruin, La Liga in Spain.

Even if you didn’t see Sunday’s game at the DW Stadium you’ve probably heard that Wigan’s 3-0 loss to Spurs was played out on a pitch so muddy it almost slowed the game down to Peter Crouch’s pace. Don’t worry though; this should be the last seventies throwback game at the ground, for this season anyway. The club are going to relay the pitch at the end of the month; probably because playing on a boggy surface doesn’t suit Roberto Martinez’s passing side as much as it did Steve Bruce’s Heskey inspired entertainers.

Owen's 09/10 season so far. Ferguson and Capello not impressed.

“It's been a long time since I was in the England squad. You never give up but it's probably a long shot in racing terms.”

It’s a sad day for Michael Owen. Talking to BBC Radio Five Live, the Manchester United bench warmer seemed to have finally resigned himself to missing out on the World Cup squad. Unless he starts and scores in every game from now until the end of the season, there’s only one way we can see Owen convincing Fabio Capello to take him to South Africa now…

The players who don’t get their dues, rightly or wrongly.

When asked about the best players he has ever played with in a recent interview, Teddy Sheringham put his old Spurs and England team mate Darren Anderton up with Roy Keane and Paul Gascoigne.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have been punished for fielding a weakened team in their match at Old Trafford on 15 December. The West Midlands club made ten changes from the side that beat Tottenham 1-0 on 12 December for their 3-0 defeat to Manchester United, and the Premier League have decided that the team Mick McCarthy put out that night “was not full strength and therefore in breach of Rule E20”. Because of this the League have come to the conclusion that the club “failed to fulfil its obligations to the league and other clubs” violating another rule; B13. To punish Wolves for these crimes that undermine the integrity of their competition, the Premier League have handed down a suspended fine of £25,000.

If the rumour in the Spanish newspaper Sport is true, and it’s almost certainly not, then Manchester United are in for another summer of fighting to keep a big Spanish club from tempting away their prize asset. That asset would of course be the ultimate utility man himself, John O’Shea. Even the Irishman himself will have had a chuckle at this one.

It’s being suggested that the Premier League introduces a play-off involving teams that finish between fourth and seventh for the fourth Champions League place. Apparently it will take 14 out of 20 clubs voting in favour of the proposal to introduce it. So if the rest of the Premier League wants to bring about the change, the ‘big four’ won’t be able to stop them. Would the new structure actually benefit the little sixteen though?

How could we ever have doubted him?

West Ham pulled themselves out of the relegation zone with their first win of 2010 on Wednesday night, a 2-0 victory over Alex McLeish’s high-flying Birmingham. Alessandro Diamanti’s spectacular free-kick topped off a solid performance from Gianfranco Zola’s team on a night when other results saw them climb to 14th place in the Premier League table. So, how have the Upton Park team turned their form around to record their first win since a Boxing Day victory over Portsmouth?