Soccer Central

Steve Coppell is reported to be Brighton’s number one target to replace Russell Slade at the Withdean. Slade was sacked on November 1st after just eight months in charge of the Sussex side, with Brighton having made a very poor start to the 2009/10 season.

Coppell previously managed Brighton from 2002 to 2003, before ultimately moving on to Reading where he remained until May 2009. Coppell is seen as an ideal replacement by many, and Steve Coppell would undoubtedly bring a wealth experience to the club if he was indeed to take charge of Brighton & Hove Albion.

Brighton currently sit 20th in the League One table, just outside the relegation zone on goal difference only. Steve Coppell may well be the man to drag Brighton & Hove Albion up the League One table, and if he does indeed make a return to the club then there will no doubt be many people in East Sussex very pleased to see him back.

Having seen their team pay way over the odds to complete the signing of Joleon Lescott; Manchester City fans will no doubt be pleasantly surprised to see their team complete the signing of Sylvinho on a free transfer.

Sylvinho played for Barcelona up until the end of the 2008/09 season, and even starred in the side’s fantastic Champions League Final victory over Manchester United in May. Sylvinho has a huge wealth of experience at left back, and is an incredibly high quality player that should fit in well within the Manchester City first team.

Sylvinho is to provide cover for Wayne Bridge, and although the player is now 35-years-old – he certainly showed in the Champions League Final last season that he is still a player with the ability to perform well at the highest possible level.

Mark Hughes has done an excellent bit of business in signing Sylvinho, and there will now be many looking forward to seeing the brilliant Brazilian make his Manchester City debut.

Andrea Zola, 18, a left-sided midfielder, made his West Ham debut last night in a reserve team win over Thurrock. 3-2 was the final score; Sebastian Huke and Eoin Wearen scored the first two goals for West Ham, before Frank Nouble made a fantastic start to his West Ham career with his 89th minute winner.

Zola played the first 45 minutes of the match, with Simone Bezzichieri coming on in the second half to replace him.

31 year-old Nigel Quashie was given the captain’s armband for this one, and did well to lead the predominantly young team to glory over Blue Square South side Thurrock.

22 year-old Ross McCormack could be on his way to the KC Stadium this summer as Phil Brown looks to lure him away from Cardiff. McCormack scored 23 goals in 44 appearances for Cardiff City last season, and this has therefore attracted interest in the player from a number of clubs.

Michael Owen was a transfer target for Phil Brown, and so too Marc-Antoine Fortune. Both players have moved elsewhere however, and Brown also failed in his quest to bring Fraizer Campbell back to Hull. McCormack is now the striker that Phil Brown will be looking to sign, as well as his Cardiff City teammate Joe Ledley.

The first game of the Confederations Cup saw South Africa take on Iraq in a fairly unexciting game that ended 0-0. Neither side had much of an attacking threat, the best chances of the game fell to South Africa however, and somehow the hosts managed not to win.

Kagisho Dikgacoi should have scored with his late header for South Africa, unfortunately his teammate Bernard Parker managed to get in the way on the line though, and the ball bounced harmlessly away.

The second game of the Confederations Cup promised to offer far more than the first, and when Liverpool striker Fernando Torres managed to grab a hat-trick in the first 17 minutes; it looked as though Spain was likely to enter double figures before the end of the night. After the initial rush things slowed up a bit for Spain however, and it wasn’t until the first-half was drawing to a close that Cesc Fabregas managed to grab a fourth.

In the second-half Spain continued to settle down, and the one and only goal of the half was scored by David Villa to take the game to 5-0. Spain’s next game will see them take on Iraq on Wednesday, and Spain should really finish the group with the maximum 9 points in the bag.

Brazil play Egypt tomorrow, the USA meanwhile face a tough challenge against Italy in what should prove to be an interesting day of Confederations Cup football.