W hichever way you look at it, Reading Festival is an important part of the history of British rock music. From hosting Nirvana’s landmark set in 1992 to propelling countless bands into the big leagues, it’s an essential part of any music fan’s calendar. Returning this year with a noticeably more mainstream lineup than usual, here’s the lowdown of all the bands that mattered.

 Friday

 The first full day of music gets off to a relatively slow start, with Dry The River (**)’s midday set on the NME Stage not exactly thrilling the largely-hungover crowd. Maybe their unassuming folk style would suit a more intimate setting, but there’s no escaping that a large portion of the audience are regretting waking up early for this. Meanwhile, on the Main Stage, While She Sleeps (*) manage not to produce a single original idea throughout their allotted time. Even the lead singer’s uninspired ‘banter’ with the bored audience suggests that he would give his right arm to be in Bring Me The Horizon (***), who play later on in the day and show the pretenders just how metalcore should be done.

 Things begin to pick up later on though, with Deap Vally (****)’s brand of raw blues rock on the NME Stage confirming why they are fast becoming one of the most talked bands in the world right now. Opening with the thunderous ‘Baby I Call Hell’ and only getting better from there, singer and guitarist Lindsey Troy commands the audience with ease for such a new band. Another new band proving their worth today is Peace (****), with their woozy indie coming across surprisingly massive in the tent. Playing to a huge crowd, the Worcester band shake off most of the ‘style over substance’ accusations that have been thrown at them by critics to deliver a great performance. Expect bigger and better things from the two.

 You’d forgive Deftones (****) for putting on a less than triumphant show on the Main Stage, considering the recent death of talismanic bassist Chi Cheng. Thankfully, this is not the case, as they dazzle the crowd with their bone-crushing riffs and Chino Moreno’s fantastic voice. Playing a good mix of material from new album ‘Koi No Yokan’ and older fan favourites, they sound as relevant and fresh as ever. Fellow alt-metal veterans System Of A Down (***) follow them in gloriously weird fashion. Though there’s a noticeable lull in energy whenever they stray from well-known songs, like ‘Chop Suey’, they still prove a very interesting watch.

 The year between Green Day (***)’s secret set at last year’s festival and tonight’s headline set has been a rough one. Between their trilogy of new albums flopping and lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong’s stint in rehab, they could use a strong headline set here to put them back on top. In that respect, their set can only be viewed as a partial success. When they are good, they are sublime (Jesus Of Suburbia in particular is one of the highlights of the festival), but the decision to play 1994 album ‘Dookie’ in full is a poor one and it significantly thins out the crowd. The extending of each song they play to a ridiculous length doesn’t do them any favors either and means that they come across as merely good rather than great tonight.

 Saturday

 Saturday’s festivities kick off with Drenge (***) on the Festival Republic Stage. Though they have the rawness and energy recently seen on their debut album, the tightness of their playing leaves something to be desired. Elsewhere, Earlwolf (***) do a good job of creating early afternoon chaos on the Main Stage. Despite Tyler The Creator and Earl Sweatshirt’s music occasionally veering off into a mess of amateurish bleeps, their sense of fun is refreshing. The same cannot be said about Twin Atlantic (**)’s set. Not helped by numerous sound issues, they sound and look hopelessly lost on such a massive stage.

 One man used to the big time is Johnny Marr (****), who thrills the crowd at the NME Stage while a selection of solo material, classic Smiths and a stellar cover of The Clash’s ‘I Fought The Law’. Playing on the Main Stage as the sun sets, Foals (****) increasing sound like a band that could headline huge festivals like this in the near future. Standout tracks ‘Inhaler’ and ‘Late Night’ showcase their growing ambitions with spectacular effect and point towards something approaching greatness.

 Not even this prepares you for how outstanding Tame Impala (*****) are. Destroying all expectations, their psychedelic rock is positively mind blowing. Last year’s ‘Lonerism’ was one of the best albums of the last 5 years and tonight’s performance more than does it justice. Kevin Parker’s brittle voice recalls George Harrison in his prime, while Julien Barbagallo’s drumming is wonderfully close to John Bonham at his most bombastic. Ending with a frankly insane version of ‘Apocalypse Dreams’, they leave the audience at NME Stage stunned.

 After that, the night ends rather anti-climatically. Jake Bugg (**) comes across as a cheap imitation of Bob Dylan during his set, while Eminem (**)’s Main Stage headline set feels oddly hollow. Though he easily gets the biggest crowd of the festival, it’s an astounding lazy performance, with the clear presence of a vocal track being particularly off-putting. It’s a poor end to what has been a very strong day of music.

 Sunday

 Clearly glad the torrential rain from this morning has cleared, Hadouken! (***) do a good job of warming up the Main Stage crowd for the last day of music. Having replaced their old new-rave style with a more muscular and dubstep-flavoured sound, it goes down very well indeed. On the NME Stage, an on-form Tribes (****) go down a storm with a setlist, wisely ignoring the majority of poorly received second album ‘Wish To Scream’ in favour of infinitely stronger older tracks. By the time they play the anthemic ‘We Were Children’, the entire tent is singing back at them in uplifting fashion.

 A few years ago, it looked certain that Editors (****) would be filling arenas and headlining festivals like Reading. A poor third album and a long wait till this year’s comeback record, ‘The Weight Of Your Love’, seem to have put those plans on hold for now, but they do a very fine job of playing an afternoon slot on the Main Stage today. Front man Tom Smith stalks the stages like a man possessed, while the crowd livens up for older tracks like ‘Munich’ and ‘An End Has A Start’.

It’s hard to know how to judge Nine Inch Nails (***)’ performance on the Main Stage. On one hand, the first half’s paranoid electro is equally as thrilling as the second half’s evil industrial metal and Trent Reznor’s band sound as tight as any band you’re likely to see. But something feels wrong throughout, with the setlist missing out nearly all of their old hits (the closest thing to a hit that we get is the manic ‘March Of The Pigs’), the production being severely striped down and the band clearly don’t want to be there. Overall, it’s a brave set, but also a massive missed opportunity. 

 Biffy Clyro (*****) make no such mistakes. With what may very well go down in history as their defining moment, their headline set is the most powerful performance of the weekend by far. Heavier songs like ‘That Golden Rule’ and ‘Modern Magic Formula’ send the crowd into a swirling frenzy, while Simon Neill’s acoustic version of ‘Machines’ is touchingly beautiful. Above all else, they seem like the only headliner to genuinely understand how important Reading Festival is to the people who attend it. An absolute joy to watch.

Enjoyed this review? Click here to read Liam's last review of Download Music Festival 2013

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The Rousler's Round Up 

24/08/2013

Reported By Conor Rees

Photo By Conor Rees

Bromsgrove’s super sub Jake Brown looked to have been the catalyst to turn the home side’s fortunes around, but despite Brown’s late equaliser it wasn’t enough to deny Alvis all three points. The away side left the Victoria ground with a 3-2 victory following a dramatic closing ten minutes.

The visitors began well, creating the game’s opening chance inside the five minute mark, but Bromsgrove keeper Jake Bedford stood strong with a superb catch from McCafferty’s close range effort.

Photo from Andre Roberts of http://www.harrierimaging.co.uk/

Bromsgrove responded with chances of their own and should have taken the lead in the 17^th minute. Jacob Snape was put clean through on goal and attempted a chip shot over Alvis goalkeeper Neil Collett, but his effort lofted wide of the far right post.

Former World Cup and Cameroonian international Patrick Suffo began the play that lead to Alvis’ first goal. Suffo’s free kick deflected out to the near touchline where the ball was delivered onto the head of Christian Jordan. His header flew under Bedford’s right arm to give the away side the lead.  

Bromsgrove replied strongly with two great chances from Will Tibbetts. His second the better of the two after Tibbetts beat two Alvis defenders and fired off a shot on goal, though his effort failed to hit the target.

Bromsgrove’s missed opportunities proved costly when Alvis got their second late on in the first half. Calvin Thompson was put clean through on goal when the Rousers defence switched off, clamming offside. 

Thompson calmly slotted the ball past Bedford into the bottom corner to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.

The Rouslers replied with a goal of their own before the break. Ashman’s low pass across the face of the goal left Matt Poyner to tap the ball into an open net for his third goal in the last two games.

Photo from Andre Roberts of http://www.harrierimaging.co.uk/

Bromsgrove emerged from the break a stronger side and should have been awarded a penalty ten minutes after the re-start when Tibbett’s was brought down.

The home side continued to pile on the pressure with shots from Snape and Ashman, both bringing acrobatic saves out of Alvis keeper Collett.

Alvis had the chance to seal all three points five minutes from the full time whistle when awarded a penalty after Chris Gleadow dragged down Leon Kelly inside the box. Steve Evans stepped up and hit a poorly struck penalty straight at Bedford to keep the score at 2-1 to Alvis.

Then began a disastrous few minutes for Alvis when Fitzharris was sent off for lashing out at a Bromsgrove player.

Bromsgrove took advantage of the extra man and substitute Jake Brown’s effort gave the home side the equaliser two minutes from full time. His clever flick set himself up for a half volley and he then fired the ball past Collett’s near post. 

Photo of Andre Roberts of http://www.harrierimaging.co.uk/

The home side looked to have acquired a much deserved point from the match but an earlier mistake cropped up again when the Rouslers appealed for an offside that wasn’t given. Leon Kelly was then put in a one on one situation on the counter attack and slid the ball past Bedford to give the away side a late 3-2 victory.

 

The home side created the more chances and was the better side on the day, but failing to convert the chances they created proved costly as Alvis took all three points. Bromsgrove Sporting will be looking to bounce back when they play Earlswood Town on Monday. 

Click Here to read our movie review on new film Only God Forgives.

Attendance: 249

Referee: Mr. J. Price 

Bromsgrove Sporting: Jake Bedford, Brett Mander, Danny Edwards, Richard Taylor (C), Toby Checketts, Chris Gleadow, Will Tibbetts, Sam Wilkinson, Matt Poyner, Jacob Snape, Stefan Ashman SUB:- Lewis Clarke, Ricardo Richards, Daniel Priest, Jake Brown, Luke Darby

Alvis Sporting Club: Neil Collett, Andy Hayes, Abasse Taeba, Christian Jordan, Robert Whailing, Liam, McCafferty, Calvin Thompson (C), Steve Evans, Leon Kelly, Patrick Suffo, Declan Doherty SUB:- Matty Taylor, Chris Johnston, Luke McKiernan, Jack Hartopp, Kieran Fitzharris

Yesterday during EA's press conference at the annual Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, some new and Xbox exclusive content was announced for the popular game mode 'Ultimate Team' inside EA's FIFA 14. The exclusive content will give Xbox players the chance to get special 'Legend Cards' that will be made available through purchasing normal Gold or Premium Gold packs in Ultimate Team. EA announced that 39 Legend cards will be available and their cards rated based on their performances at the height of their career. 

The full list of Legend Player Cards:- 

Dennis Bergkamp - Netherlands 
Oliver Bierhoff - Germany 
Sol Campbell - England 
Fabio Cannavaro - Italy
Rui Costa - Portugal 
Hernán Crespo - Argentina 
Frank de Boer - Netherlands 
Marcel Desailly - France 
Paulo Futre - Portugal 
Stefan Effenberg - Germany 
Robbie Fowler - England 
Ruud Gullit - Netherlands 
Gheorghe Hagi - Romania 
Fernando Hierro - Spain 
Filippo Inzaghi - Italy
Patrick Kluivert - Netherlands 
Henrik Larsson - Sweeden 
Jens Lehmann - Germany 
Gary Lineker - England 
Freddie Ljungberg - Sweeden 
Paolo Maldini - Italy
Lothar Matthäus -Germany 
Gary Neville - England 
Michael Owen - England 
Pauleta - Portugal 
Pelé - Brazil 
Robert Pirès - France 
Frank Rijkaard - Netherlands 
David Seaman - England 
Teddy Sheringham - England 
Andriy Shevchenko - Ukranie 
Davor Šuker - Croatia 
Marco van Basten - Netherlands 
Edwin van der Sar - Netherlands  
Ruud van Nistelrooy - Netherlands 
Patrick Vieira - France 
Christian Vieri - Italy
George Weah - Liberia 
Gianfranco Zola - Italy

This list is absent of some of the worlds best players; for example Cantona, Figo, Zidane and   Maradona to name a few, so there is definitely room for EA to add more legends into the game over the course of next year. 

This news is exclusive to Xbox only and came hours after Microsoft announced that all European Xbox One pre-ordered consoles will now be accompanied with a digital download for FIFA 14. If you have already pre-ordered your console you will be automatically upgraded so you receive this digital download. 

For pre-orders outside the European market a game will still be bundled in with the consoles, but this is yet to be announced.  

The FIFA 14 Demo will be available from September 10th. 

A fter watching ‘Only God Forgives’ one thing was clear and certain in my head, this movie is sure to create a divide in people’s perceptions of this movie. The majority of people who will see this movie will leave thinking that Only God Forgives is one of the worst movies they have ever seen, creating confusion at every turn and leaving the cinema completely baffled, the small minority of people on the other hand though will feel satisfied that they have just witnessed a beautifully crafted and very unique story that is completely different to anything that is currently out there. I can understand why some will love this film and why the majority won’t.

Only God Forgives is the second time director Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling have teamed up after the 2011 hit Drive. Only God Forgives is a story about revenge. Julian (Ryan Gosling), a drug smuggler in Bangkok finds himself trying to track down the person responsible for his brother’s death when his mother flies in from American. Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm) is the person behind Julian’s brother’s death though this is all brought about after Billy (Julian’s brother) kills and rapes a young girl.

That is the clearest way to explain the main backbone of the story without creating confusion. It sounds fairly simple, but believe me it isn’t. Everything in this film requires you to be very analytical and look extremely in depth at what you are seeing on screen in order to know what is going on.

Characters in this movie stand for more than just people in this film. There doesn’t really seem a right side to follow as neither is good. Julian and his mother, Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas) are trying to get revenge for Billy’s death, but is that really justified because Billy did rape and kill a young girl. Chang on the other hand is perceived as this corrupt cop (though he isn’t- I’ll get to that in a bit) and the person responsible for Billy’s death, so you don’t really see him as the good guy of this movie either.

When you see Crystal on screen you never feel like she is a normal person, you first see her arriving at her hotel and she imminently opens her fiery personality on the woman working behind the reception desk. She seeks revenge and nothing else all throughout this movie, she is never nice to anyone on screen other than Julian and even then she sits there caressing her sons arm creating this unnatural relationship between mother and son. The way she speaks to people and her persistence for revenge it’s clear that Refn is trying to portray Crystal as the Devil.

Chang isn’t a police officer but is always looked up to by the police, they all respect him and never question him and everything he does is justified to the people around him merely due to his status. He is untouchable in this movie and can also just pull a sword out of thin air. Chang isn’t a cop, he is a metaphor for God.

None of this is explained to you either so I can understand why people will get confused. No one will go into Only God Forgives expecting that they will have to look this much in depth at this movie and thus leaving you confused, mainly due to the vast majority of movies not leaving you this much in the dark.

Leaving you in the dark is a big problem in this film. Dream like sequences crop up throughout this film adding to the confusion especially when in certain scenes it is only made clear through Julian’s shirt changing colour. This doesn’t bring anything other than confusion. Another area leaving you in the dark is the obsession with Julian’s hands. These shots of his hands and his fists clenched all throughout, such as the scene when he puts his hands under the tap and the water turns to blood. This is eventually explained in the movies closing stages but again it’s an explanation you need to figure out yourself.

You also never attach yourselves to the characters mainly because they are never developed, this could be due to the characters acting as nothing more than metaphors. This isn’t something I’m a fan of, by not attaching yourself to the characters and with all this confusion this film isn’t an easy watch.

As in Drive, Ryan Gosling barley has any dialog in this film, as expected. He does well in this movie with the script he has been given but isn’t really given as much screen time as you’d expect. The stand out is Vithaya Pansringarm, he really is a sinister character in in this movie. You get this vibe of a god like being walking around Bangkok by the way he slowly walks around everywhere, everything he does is precise and elegant, be it with his sword or his fists. One area that I didn’t understand is the karaoke scenes that happen far too often in this film that occur every time Chang dishes out a punishment.

Music is the main strength in this film, it has to be good when dialog is absent for long periods of time. This techno style of music compliments this dark criminal environment extremely well especially in the fight scenes. An element that is also well worked is when characters are mute, it takes place a few times during ‘Only God Forgives’ when characters begin to talk and all you can hear music instead of their dialog. This is a clever idea that shows that who they are talking to isn’t listening and only focused on their thoughts.

Nicolas Winding Refn has approached this movie with the image of creating Only God Forgives as artistic as possible. This movie does look great, dark atmospheres work well to create this criminal environment. Cinematographer is also excellent, long, slow camera panning shots all add to this art. Everything has its place in this artistic image including light that is perfectly worked to only focus on certain objects in scenes, leaving the rest of the set in darkness.

I’m all for a great artistic film with great cinematography and music but this film isn’t great. Drive’s uniqueness still felt like a great movie, you was able to fathom out what was going on despite a lack of dialog from Ryan Gosling. Only God Forgives feels like it’s trying to be too clever. With characters resembling metaphors you find it hard to understand their actions when you aren’t given much detail into their background, and with a story that jumps from seemingly normal situations to bizarre scenes you will easily get confused. This movie is only 90 minutes but it feels a lot longer than many two hour plus films due to the amount of times you will be scratching your head at what’s going on. This isn’t an easy watch and even when you do take the time to analyse ever moment on screen certain scenes still appear completely bizarre and going to far, especially a torture scene and one scene in particular is when Julian cuts open a characters stomach and puts his hand in there, not a single piece of explanation is given to why this happens or what Refn is trying to portray.

Nicolas Winding Refn is a good director with a unique mind, proved perfectly from Drive, but the way he has approached this movie feels like he is trying to create a piece of art or literature with hidden meaning behind ever tiny detail more so than a movie. By all the focus going into you working out what the meaning is the movie sort of shoots its self in the foot by creating confusion. You don’t expect to have to do this in a movie and when you don’t know what is going on you begin losing interest. I can appreciate a film that uses amazing cinematography perfectly complimented with a great score but by no means does that mean it’s a great film. Only God Forgives sadly is just that.

Click here to Pre-order Only God Forgives. 

VitalyzdTv is well known for his pranks and pickup videos on Youtube. Though the Youtuber, based in Miami is extremely popular, (as it stands on almost 1.9 million subscribers) and creates great videos the lengths he sometimes goes to create his content has caused some trouble with the Youtuber being arrested, beaten up and in one instance nearly shot (in his most popular video 'Miami Zombie Attack Prank'). 

But despite that, one of VitalyzdTv's latest videos, 'Extreme Homeless Man Makeover', is very different to what we normally expect to see on his channel. In this video Vitaly takes a homeless man from the streets of Miami and take him to have a shower, get a haircut and dinner at a steakhouse. He also puts him up in a motel for two nights and spends over $150 on clothes for the homeless man. A kind gesture is an understatement. This video proves that despite the controversy surrounding some of VitalyzdTv's videos over stepping the prank mark he is one of the greatest Youtubers out there. This is one of the nicest YouTube videos you will ever see and at the least deserves a like. 

Photo's from Mike Trevelyan

Graphics, Editing and Pictures from Conor Rees

The summer transfer window has arrived and departed almost as quickly. Clubs up and down the country have been, since July 1^st, making offers, agreeing contracts, discussing fees and getting on managers and coaches last nerve in order to acquire prized assets.

But which transfers will excel? Which ones will flop? Here is a run through of all the moves for all 20 Premier League teams.

We also want to here your say, take our poll on the right of your screen. Which Premier League Club has made the best transfers this summer, vote and see how your choice compares to the rest 

Arsenal:

Players in: Yaya Sanogo (Auxerre) Free, Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan) Free, Emiliano Viviano (Palmero) Loan, Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid) £42.5million.

Players out: Andrey Arshavin (Zenit St Petersberg) Free, Francis Coquelin (Freiburg) Loan, Denilson (Sao Paulo) Free, Johan Djourou (Hamburg) Loan, Craig Eastmond (Colchester United) Free, Kyle Ebecilio (Twente) Free, Vito Mannone (Sunderland) Undisclosed,  Sebastien Squillaci Released, Sanchez Watt (Colchester United) Free, Jordan Wynter (Bristol City) Free, Jernade Meade (Swansea City), Free Andre Santos (Flamengo) Undisclosed, Gervinho (Roma) £8 million, Marouane Chamakh (Crystal Palace) Undisclosed.

One to watch: Mesut Ozil.Arsenal have not won a trophy for 8 years. Arsene Wenger has been slated by fans, journalists and various other critiques by not spending money on any so called ‘marquee’ signings. However he had told the fans to be patient and, to his credit, this signing was one that was worth all the turmoil and wait. In Mesut Ozil, Arsenal have signed a game changer and play maker. At 24, Ozil already has nearly 50 caps for Germany and was highly regarded by fans of his old club Real Madrid who did not want him to leave the Bernabeu. For my reckoning the oldest manager in the Premier League has still got the knack for pulling something like this out of the bag and this might encourage fans to lay off Wenger as the signing of Ozil might drive the Gunners into securing that 4^th place finish and keep other teams such as North London rivals Spurs, and Liverpool at bay.

Aston Villa:

Players in: Aleksandar Tonev (Lech Poznan) Undisclosed, Jores Okore (FC Nordsjaelland) Undisclosed,  Leandro Bacuna (FC Groningen) Undisclosed, Nicklas Helenius (Aalborg BK) Undisclosed, Antonio Luna (Sevilla) Undisclosed, Jed Steer (Norwich) Undisclosed, Libor Kozak (Lazio) £7million. Stephen Ireland (Stoke) Loan

Players out: Richard Dunne (Queens Park Rangers) Free, Jean II Makoun Released, Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest) Free, Andy Marshall Released, Brett Holman Released, Derrick Williams (Bristol City) Undisclosed, Darren Bent (Fulham) Loan, Barry Bannan (Crystal Palace) Undisclosed.

One to watch: Liobor KozakAnother relatively young player to be added to the Villa first team by Paul Lambert. Signed on deadline day for £7 million, Kozak has been brought in to boost Villa’s attacking options and help other strikers such as Christian Benteke and Andreas Weimann try to push the Birmingham club into a higher league position then last season.

Cardiff City:

Players in: Andreas Cornelius (Copenhagen) Undisclosed John Brayford (Derby County) Undisclosed Simon Moore (Brentford) Undisclosed  Steven Caulker (Tottenham Hotspur) Undisclosed Gary Medel (Sevilla) Undisclosed Kevin Theophile-Catherine (Rennes) £2.1milion.

Players out: Heidar Helguson Released Stephen McPhail Released

One to watch: Steven Caulker

Signed from Tottenham, Caulker is a gifted 21 year old talent who has left the North London outfit to become a first team regular. Big and strong, the young defender has had various loans which include in the Championship with Bristol City and in the Premier League with Cardiff’s South Wales rivals Swansea City, Caulker has all the attributes to one day be at the heart of the English national team’s defence.

Chelsea:

Players in: Andre Schurrle (Bayer Leverkusen) Undisclosed fee  Mario van Ginkel (Vitesse Arnhem) Undisclosed fee  Mark Schwarzer (Fulham) Free  Willian (Anzhi Makhachkala) Undisclosed fee. Samuel Eto’o (Anzhi Makhachkala) Free. Christian Atsu (Porto) £3.5million.

Players out: Yossi Benayoun Released Florent Malouda (Trabzonspor) Free Paulo Ferreira Released
Ross Turnbull (Doncaster Rovers) Free Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid) Loan Marko Marin (Sevilla) Loan Oriol Romeu (Valencia) Loan Wallace (Inter Milan) Loan Christian Atsu (Vitesse Arnhem) Loan Victor Moses (Liverpool) Loan Romelu Lukaku (Everton) Loan.

One to watch: Willian

Stolen from under the noses of London rivals Tottenham, Willian arrives at Stamford Bridge from Anzhi in Russia. With the Russian clubs owner Suleyman Kerimov becoming dissilousioned and disheartend with them not becoming champions of the Russian league since his take over in 2011, he has decided to sell the majority of his investments, Willian being one of them. This is a great deal for Chelsea, who have also acquired Samuel Eto’o from the same team. Willian is also no stranger to scoring at Stamford Bridge, netting 2 goals for Shaktar Donetsk in a Champions league tie which they lost 3-2. He will complete what is already a midfield the opposition would be scared to come across and with the likes of Hazard and Oscar, Chelsea have a strong core to build for a title challenge.

Crystal Palace:

Players in: Stephen Dobbie (Brighton & Hove Albion) Undisclosed Dwight Gayle (Peterborough United) Undisclosed Jerome Thomas (West Bromwich Albion) Free Jose Campana (Sevilla) Undisclosed Elliot Grandin (Unattached) Free  Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal) Undisclosed  Neil Alexander (Unattached) Free  Florian Marange (Unattached) Free Jason Puncheon (Southampton) Loan Jack Hunt (Huddersfield Town) Undisclosed Jimmy Kebe (Reading) Undisclosed Adrian Mariappa (Reading) Undisclosed Barry Bannan (Aston Villa) Undisclosed.

Players out: Andre Moritz (Bolton Wanderers) Free Alex Marrow (Blackburn Rovers) Undisclosed Peter Ramage (Barnsley) Loan.

One to watch: Dwight Gayle

Signed from Peterborough, Dwight Gayle was playing non- league football as little as 2 years ago. Brought to the football league by Dagenham & Redbridge, he was quickly snapped up by Peterborough and then Palace for a reported club record fee. It will be interesting to see how or if he can adapt to the Premier League at such a fierce incline but Eagles boss Ian Holloway has put all of his faith into the young striker and believes his goals will help keep Palace in this division.

Everton:

Players in: Arouna Kone (Wigan Athletic) Undisclosed fee  Antolin Alcaraz (Wigan Athletic) Free Joel Robles (Atletico Madrid) Undisclosed Gerard Deulofeu (Barcelona) Loan James McCarthy (Wigan) Undisclosed Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea) Loan Gareth Barry (Manchester CIty) Loan

Players out: Thomas Hitzlsperger Released Jan Mucha Released Jake Bidwell (Brentford) Undisclosed Marouanne Fellani (Manchester United) £27.5million Victor Anichebe (West Brom) £6million.

One to watch: Romelu Lukaku

On loan at West Brom last season, where he was a star, Lukaku was this season planning to stay at Chelsea and fight for his place with fellow strikers Torres, Ba and Eto’o. However, in what could be perceived as the shock of the transfer window, he has joined Everton on loan until the end of the season. Powerful and athletic, and already part of the Belgian national side, Lukaku should be a big hit with the Toffees and their fans. With fantastic displays against Liverpool last year for West Brom, I am sure the fans will welcome him with open arms.

Fulham:

Players in: Derek Boateng (FC Dnipro) Free Fernando Amorebieta (Athletic Bilbao) Free Maarten Stekelenburg (AS Roma) Undisclosed Giorgos Karagounis (Unattached) Free Sascha Riether (Cologne) Undisclosed Adel Taarabt (Queens Park Rangers) Loan  Darren Bent (Aston Villa) Loan  Scott Parker (Tottenham Hotspur) Undisclosed Elsad Zverotic (Young Boys) Undisclosed.

Players out: Chris Baird Released Simon Davies Released Mahamadou Diarra Released Mladen Petric Released Mark Schwarzer (Chelsea) Free Csaba Somogyi Released Cauley Woodrow (Southend) Loan Marcello Trotta (Brentford) Loan.

One to watch: Adel Taarabt

Fulham are in a bit of a daze, finishing last season poorly, the clubs chairman Mohammed Al- Fayed decided this was the year he would sell up, and sell up he has to American businessman, Shahid Khan, who also owns the Jacksonville Jaguars American football franchise. This season Martin Jol has had to get off to a decent start, and in the transfer market he has made some decent signings, with Darren Bent and Scott Parker, but the main one to watch is Adel Taarabt. Signed on loan from local rivals QPR, Taarabt has always fancied himself to be world class. It will be interesting to see if he can prove this on the pitch and consolidate Fulham’s place in the Premier League.

Hull City:

Players in: George Boyd (Peterborough United) Free Maynor Figueroa (Wigan Athletic) Free Curtis Davies (Birmingham City) Undisclosed Ahmed Elmohamady (Sunderland) Undisclosed Allan McGregor (Besiktas) Undisclosed Steve Harper (Newcastle United) Free  Danny Graham (Sunderland) Loan  Yannick Sagbo (Evian) Undisclosed  Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur) Undisclosed  Jake Livermore (Tottenham Hotspur) Loan Gedo (Al Ahly) Loan

Players out: Sonny Bradley (Portsmouth) Free Danny East (Portsmouth) Free Seyi Olofinjana Released Jay Simpson Released Andy Dawson (Scunthorpe United) Free Mark Oxley (Oldham Athletic) Loan Corry Evans (Blackburn Rovers) Undisclosed Connor Townsend (Carlisle) Loan Cameron Stewart (Charlton) Loan

One to watch: Tom Huddlestone

Mainly for the haircut! Decent midfielder with a ferocious driver capable from his right foot, Huddlestone was finding it hard to gain a regular place in Andre Villas-Boas’ Tottenham Squad having been out injured for a while. Now with a new start and a new team, it will be interesting to see if his experience in the top flight can help keep newly promoted Hull, in with a chance of staying in it.

Liverpool:

Players in: Kolo Toure (Manchester City) Free Luis Alberto (Sevilla) Undisclosed Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo) Undisclosed Simon Mignolet (Sunderland) Undisclosed  Aly Cissokho (Valencia) Loan Mamadou Sakho (PSG) £18million Victor Moses (Chelsea) Loan Tiago Ilori (Sporting Lisbon) £7million.

Players out: Danny Wilson (Heart of Midlothian) Free Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea City) Undisclosed  Suso (Almeria) Loan Pepe Reina (Napoli) Loan Jay Spearing (Bolton Wanderers) Undisclosed Stewart Downing (West Ham United) Undisclosed Oussama Assaidi (Stoke City) Loan Daniel Pacheco (AD Alcorcon) Undisclosed Fabio Borini (Sunderland) Loan

One to watch: Simon Mignolet

One of Liverpool’s loyal assets Pepe Reina, was moved on somewhat controversially in his opinion by the Anfield club in the summer, following which they signed Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet from Sunderland. Another Belgian in the Premier League, the new Liverpool goalie has made a very good start with 3 clean sheets in the first 3 games of the season. Liverpool fans will hope he can keep this up throughout the season to help Liverpool gain back a place in Europe or even, dare it be said, challenge for the Premier League title.

Manchester City:

Players in: Fernandinho (Shakhtar Donetsk) Undisclosed Jesus Navas (Sevilla) Undisclosed  Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla) Undisclosed  Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina) Undisclosed Martin Demichelis (Athletico Madrid) £4.2million. 

Players out: Kolo Toure (Liverpool) Free  Wayne Bridge (Reading) Free Roque Santa Cruz (Malaga) Free Carlos Tevez (Juventus) Undisclosed Karim Rekik (PSV Eindhoven) Loan Jeremy Helan (Sheffield Wednesday) Undisclosed  Maicon (AS Roma) Undisclosed Scott Sinclair (West Bromwich Albion) Loan Denis Suarez (Barcelona) Undisclosed  Albert Rusnak (Oldham) Loan Abdul Razak (Anzhi Makhachkala) Loan. Harry Bunn (Sheffield United) Loan Gareth Barry (Everton) Loan

One to watch: Alvaro Negredo

Manchester City needed something new this season after the shambolic display of last season, finishing a long way behind local rivals Manchester United in the title race. New manager Manuel Pellegrini has bought wisely and seemed to have brought a new lease of life to the players at the Etihad Stadium. New signing Alvaro Negredo has scored twice coming off the bench and looks to be settling in well, it will be interesting to see if he can form a formidable striking partnership with City’s other world class strikers, to aid in bringing the title back to the blue half of Manchester. 

Manchester United:

Players in: Guillermo Varela (Atletico Penarol) Undisclosed Marouanne Fellani (Everton) £27.5million.

Players out: Scott Wootton (Leeds United) Undisclosed Angelo Henriquez (Real Zaragoza) Loan Nick Powell (Wigan) Loan. 


One to watch: Marouanne Fellani

The Premier League champions left it late, but in Marouanne Fellani they have signed a player that they needed and have wanted for a long time. Fellani is well known to David Moyes, being a vital player for him at Everton. Now that he has brought him to Manchester, Moyes will hope that it is one of his trusted employee from his days in the Blue side of Mersyside that will help him gain his first Premier League title.

Newcastle United:

Players in: Olivier Kemen (Metz) Undisclosed Loic Remy (Queens Park Rangers) Loan

Players out: Steve Harper (Hull City) Free Danny Simpson (Queens Park Rangers) Free James Perch (Wigan Athletic) Undisclosed Mehdi Abeid (Panathinaikos) Loan Brad Inman (Crewe Alexandra) Undisclosed.

One to watch: Loic Remy

“Judge me on my signings,” said Newcastle’s appointed director of football and former manager Joe Kinnear when he was appointed by Mike Ashley in June and it’s safe to say he hasn’t done himself any favours in this transfer window. Only the signing of Loic Remy on loan from QPR, is one that might influence the Toon Army season. To be fair to Remy, he was decent for QPR at the end of last season but is he enough to improve the confidence around St James Park.

Norwich City:

Players in: Ricky Van Wolfswinkel (Sporting Lisbon) Undisclosed Javier Garrido (Lazio) Undisclosed Nathan Redmond (Birmingham City) Undisclosed Carlo Nash (Stoke City) Free Martin Olsson (Blackburn Rovers) Undisclosed Leroy Fer (FC Twente) Undisclosed Gary Hooper (Celtic) Undisclosed Johan Elmander (Galatasaray) Loan

Players out: Chris Martin (Derby County) Free Simeon Jackson (Eintracht Braunschweig) Free Lee Camp Released Marc Tierney (Bolton Wanderers) Free Elliott Ward (AFC Bournemouth) Free Tom Adeyemi (Birmingham City) Free Jed Steer (Aston Villa) Free James Vaughan (Huddersfield Town) Undisclosed Grant Holt (Wigan Athletic) Undisclosed Andrew Surman (AFC Bournemouth) Loan Leon Barnett (Wigan Athletic) Undisclosed Jacob Butterfield (Middlesbrough) Undisclosed.

One to watch: Ricky Van WolfswinkelSigned from Sporting Lisbon RVW has come into the Norwich team to bolster their attack, which was the weakest part of their game last season with the now departed Grant Holt being their top scorer with only 8 goals. Along with Norwich’s other newly signed players in their new look frontline, Chris Hughton has built a team more than capable of searching for a top 10 finish.

Southampton:

Players in: Dejan Lovren (Lyon) Undisclosed  Victor Wanyama (Celtic) Undisclosed Pablo Daniel Osvaldo (AS Roma) £12.8 million.

Players out: Frazer Richardson (Middlesbrough) Free Danny Butterfield (Carlisle United) Free Dan Seaborne (Yeovil Town) Free Ryan Dickson (Colchester United) Free Ben Reeves (Milton Keynes Dons) Free Sam Hoskins (Yeovil Town) Free Richard Chaplow (Millwall) Free Vegard Forren (Molde FK)  Steve De Ridder (FC Utrecht) Free Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace) Loan Emmanuel Mayuka (Sochaux) Loan

One to watch: Pablo OsvaldoDescribed by some as a ‘hot-head’ Osvaldo is a proven goal scorer in Italy so it will be interesting to see if he can make the transition to the Premier League. With other signings Victor Wanyama from Celtic and Dejan Lovern from Lyon, along with the likes of Ricky Lambert and Adam Lallana at their disposal, the Saints have what it takes to push on from last season’s 14^th place finish.

Stoke City:

Players in: Erik Pieters (PSV Eindhoven) £3.2 million Marc Muniesa (Barcelona) Free  Oussama Assaidi (Liverpool) Loan. Stephen Ireland (Aston Villa) Loan Marko Arnautovic (Werder Bremen) Undisclosed

Players out: Dean Whitehead (Middlesbrough) Free Matthew Upson (Brighton & Hove Albion) Free Rory Delap (Burton Albion) Free Mamady Sidibe Released Carlo Nash (Norwich City) Free Matthew Lund (Rochdale) Free. Ryan Shotton (Wigan) Loan Michael Kightly (Burnley) Loan Florent Cuvelier (Sheffield United) Undisclosed.

One to watch: Marko Arnautovic

A deadline signing by Mark Hughes, Arnautovic has the skills to be effective in the Premier League, but a lot depends on his attitude to work for it. Once playing under Jose Mourinho, when he was at Inter Milan, the “Special One,” described the Austrian Striker as “a fantastic person, but having the attitude of a child.” This hasn’t stopped The Potters who are aiming to rebuild a new team after the sacking of Tony Pulis in May.

Sunderland:

Players in: Cabral (Basle) Free Modibo Diakite (Lazio) Free Valentin Roberge (Maritimo) Free  David Moberg Karlsson (IFK Goteborg) Undisclosed Vito Mannone (Arsenal) Undisclosed Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar) Undisclosed El Hadji Ba (Le Havre) Free  Emanuele Giaccherini (Juventus) Undisclosed Ondrej Celustka (Trabzonspor) Loan  Charis Mavrias (Panathinaikos) Undisclosed Ki Sung-Yeung (Swansea) Loan Andrea Dossena (Napoli) Undisclosed Fabio Borini (Liverpool) Loan.

Players out: Titus Bramble Released Matthew Kilgallon (Blackburn Rovers) Free Ryan Noble Released Simon Mignolet (Liverpool) Undisclosed Ahmed Elmohamady (Hull City) Undisclosed Danny Graham (Hull City) Loan  Alfred N'Diaye (Eskisehirspor) Loan James McClean (Wigan Athletic) Undisclosed  Ben Wilson (Accrington Stanley) Free Stephane Sessegnon (West Brom) Undisclosed.

One to watch: Jozy Altidore

Paolo Di Canio has given another chance at a crack in the Premier League to the American striker who had a torrid time previously with Hull City. Having grown up and worked on his game, it is not going to be easy, but Sunderland and Di Canio will have to rely on Altidore and his strike partner Stephen Fletcher, to score the goals that will help keep them in this league. Di Canio has made a lot of new signings so it will take a bit of time for the rest of the team to gel, which might unfortunately be their downfall.

Swansea City:

Players in: Jose Canas (Real Betis) Free Jordi Amat (Espanyol) £2.5m  Jonathan De Guzman (Villarreal) Loan  Gregor Zabret (NK Domzale) Undisclosed Alex Gogic (Olympiakos) Undisclosed Alejandro Pozuelo (Real Betis) Undisclosed Jonjo Shelvey (Liverpool) Undisclosed Wilfred Bony (Vitesse Arnhem) £12m  Jernade Meade (Arsenal) Free Dwight Tiendalli (Unattached) Free Alvaro Vazquez (Getafe) Loan.


Players out: Mark Gower (Charlton Athletic) Free Kyle Bartley (Birmingham City) Loan Kemy Agustien (Brighton & Hove Albion) Free Luke Moore Mutual Consent.

One to watch: Wilfred Bony

Brilliant for Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie, scoring 46 goals in 65 games (37 goals from 36 appearances just last season), Swansea smashed their transfer record to bring Bony who is an Ivory Coast International, to South Wales. Michael Laudrup’s men now have a very decent team and have the quality to gain a place in the Europa League next season, it will just depend if Laudrup can keep the right players fit for the majority of the season in order for them to succeed.

Tottenham Hotspur:

Players in: Paulinho (Corinthians) Undisclosed Nacer Chadli (FC Twente) Undisclosed Roberto Soldado (Valencia) Undisclosed Etienne Capoue (Toulouse) Undisclosed Vlad Chiriches (Steau Bucharest) £9million Erik Lamela (AS Roma) £30milion Christian Eriksen (Ajax) £11.5milion.

Players out: Nathan Byrne (Swindon Town) Free David Bentley Released John Bostock Released William Gallas Released Steven Caulker (Cardiff City) Undisclosed fee  Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders) Undisclosed fee Tom Huddlestone (Hull City) Undisclosed fee  Jake Livermore (Hull City) Loan  Scott Parker (Fulham) Undisclosed fee Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) £85.3million Tom Carroll (QPR) Loan Benoit Assou-Ekotto (QPR) Loan


One to watch: Paulinho

A star for Brazil in their winning Confederations cup campaign on home turf, Paulinho is a midfielder who gives a new edge to Spurs. Signed from Corinthians in an (at the time) a supposed club record purchase, there is a lot resting on him and the rest of his new team mates since the departure of Gareth Bale from White Hart Lane. With last weekend’s loss to rivals Arsenal however, it is clear that new signings need a bit more time to settle in, in order to achieve their main goal of beating the Gunners to fourth place.

West Bromwich Albion:

Players in: Nicolas Anelka Free Goran Popov (Dynamo Kiev) Loan  Diego Lugano (Paris St Germain) Free  Matej Vydra (Udinese) Loan  Zoltan Gera (Unattached) Free Scott Sinclair (Manchester City) Loan Stephane Sessegnon (Sunderland) Undisclosed Lee Camp (Norwich) Free Morgan Amalfitano (Marseille) Loan Victor Anichebe (Everton) £6million.

Players out: Marc Antoine-Fortune (Wigan Athletic) Free Gonzalo Jara  (Nottingham Forest) Free Jerome Thomas (Crystal Palace) Free James Hurst (Crawley Town) Free Peter Odemwingie (Cardiff) £2.25million

One to watch: Scott Sinclair

A poor start to the season has seen Steve Clarke’s men routed to the bottom of the Premier League. It is early days however, and West Brom have been very canny in their transfer dealings, barely spending any money. Alongside the experience of Nicolas Anelka, Clarke has brought in Scott Sinclair on loan from Manchester City. Having been frozen out by City’s former boss Roberto Mancini, Sinclair now has the opportunity to show the class he displayed at Swansea City.

West Ham United:

Players in: Razvan Rat (Shakhtar Donetsk) Free Adrian (Real Betis) Free Andy Carroll (Liverpool) Undisclosed Danny Whitehead (Stockport County) Undisclosed Stewart Downing (Liverpool) Undisclosed

Players out: Carlton Cole Released Gary O'Neil (Queens Park Rangers) Free Robert Hall (Bolton Wanderers) Undisclosed.
One to watch: Andy CarrollSam Allardyce has had to be clever with his money this summer, and bringing back Andy Carroll permanently, may help the Hammers improve performances on the pitch. Along with the other new signing from Liverpool Stewart Downing, West Ham have bought players who are eager to rebuild their careers and “Big Sam,” might be the man to get them back to their best.

We want to know your opinion. Which Premier League Club has made the best transfers this summer, take our poll at the top of the page and see how your view matches against the rest.