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Leighton Baines dismisses rumours he is on his way to Manchester United - Sky Sports
Amid the resurrection of 'ITK' Agents on Twitter, it seems they have not much of an imagination, with the Baines to Man United (and Fellaini to Chelsea for that matter) links emerging. Baines quickly puts those rumours to bed.
Oh and while I'm here, please, please PLEASE, do not follow, nor give attention to, these fake agent accounts on Twitter. No agent worth his salt would risk multi-million pound deals collapsing because he wants to gain a few hundred followers on a social networking site. These accounts are usually lonely teenage boys looking for a bit of attention - don't give it to them!
South Africa coach Gordon Igesund has given up hope that Steven Pienaar will delay his international retirement and play at the African Cup of Nations next month.
Academy Granted Category One Status - official site
Everton's excellent and prolific Academy has been awarded elite status for the next three years by the Premier League.
Those thoughtful TV companies are at it again
So in a month where an away league game with Southampton (the longest away trip of the season) has been moved to a Monday night, ESPN have now switched Everton's FA Cup tie at either Cheltenham or Hereford (who drew 1-1 last night) to Monday January 7th. Cheers for that.
Everton are (understandably) overly reliant on Marouane Fellaini - SBNation.com
SBNation's Kevin McCauley suggests the fitness of Fellaini is crucial to Everton's success this season - he is probably right, though he also describes Darron Gibson as a 'glorified energy man' - feel free to comment on that below!
The video for the Hillsborough Charity single released
A collaborative cover of Neil Diamond's 'He Aint Heavy, He's brother', featuring a host of popstars past and present - including Robbie Williams and Paul McCartney - is to be released on December 17. It is hoped the song will claim the Christmas number one spot in the UK charts while all profits will be donated to the Hillsborough Justice fund, making it the ideal stocking filler - buy it!