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West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola has vowed to keep star striker Carlton Cole at Upton Park and declared the frontman is happy with the Premier League strugglers.

Cole has been inspirational for Zola’s struggling side this season scoring six Premier League goals and his efforts have caught the eye of England boss Fabio Capello.

The 26-year-old has featured for the Three Lions in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup finals and press reports have suggested Cole would jump at a chance to move to one of the Premier League’s big guns to secure his place at next summer’s finals in South Africa.

Both Manchester United and Liverpool have been linked with moves for the former Chelsea striker, but Zola is keen to keep his prize asset.

“This year we are scoring more than we did last year so I think we are improving there but we all know Carlton Cole is an important player for this team, not only for his goals but for his presence,” said Zola.

“We are very happy with him and we are going to help him keep scoring the way he is scoring.

“I know Carlton is happy here. I know the club have no intention of selling any of our important players.

“There is a lot of speculation and I know that a lot of messages coming out are not true. I don’t want to pay attention to it.

“It’s been 13 or 14 months that I’ve been in charge and it’s never stopped.”

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson could move for Cole after finally giving up on Dimitar Berbatov, who has failed to hit it off at Old Trafford.

Rafa Benitez is also in desperate need of another forward due to the groin injury picked up by Fernando Torres and Cole could be targeted in the January transfer window.

Milos Krasic’s performances against Manchester United have alerted scouts across Europe ahead of Januarys’ transfer window.

The CSKA Moscow schemer put in two action-packed displays against the Premier League champions and capped his outings with a goal in the 3-3 Champions League draw at Old Trafford.

Krasic’s ball-carrying ability reportedly caught the eye of United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and he is already on the agenda for several clubs across Europe.

The 25-year-old attacking midfielder or winger has electric pace and close control which has drawn comparisons to Pavel Nedved and Sir Alex could be weighing up an approach.

United already have Krasic’s Serbia team-mate Nemanja Vidic on the books at Old Trafford after landing the centre-back from Spartak Moscow for £7million back in January 2006. And Ferguson has been highly impressed with Vidic and the manner in which he has settled into life in the Premier League and might be persuaded to make another delve into the Russian league to pick up another gem to further improve their Premier League odds.

Krasic moved to Russia in 2004 after CSKA snapped him up from Vojvodina – where he was already captain.

He has since become an integral part of the CSKA side and one of the most highly-rated forwards in Russia and the Moscow men will look for a fee in the region of £8million for the player.

Paris Saint Germain, Hamburg, Werder Bremen, Porto and Portsmouth are all credited with an interest in Krasic, who still has three years to run on his contract with CSKA, but he is likely to be offered fresh terms in a bid to secure him to the Russian side.

France coach Raymond Domenech has branded the Republic of Ireland “a sort of England B side” ahead of their World Cup play-off next month.

Giovanni Trapattoni is already preparing his side for “two cup finals” and is more than likely to use Domenech’s comments as a motivational tool ahead of the two games next month.

“Whoever our opponents were, I would have said the same thing, the objective is to qualify: but now it’s Ireland, we just have to get on with it,” Domenech told the Irish Examiner.

“The advantage is that everyone knows them. They are a sort of England B side. They all play in the English league so all our players know them: some of our players play alongside them, while others against them. There will be no surprises. We know what to expect and we know what we have to do.

“They have not lost during the qualification period, and they only drew against Italy in their last match because of a last-minute goal.
We know they are a solid side, they’re all Premier League players.
They’re tough, but we are too.”

Ireland were handed arguably the toughest possible draw when they were paired with the 1998 winners and 2006 World Cup runners-up Les Blues, but they will go into the games in a confident mood after an unbeaten qualifying campaign, leaving them with good odds of World Cup Qualification.

France were denied automatic qualification from Group Seven by Serbia, who amassed 22 points to their 21.

Domenech’s men only lost only once – 3-1 in Austria in their opening qualifier in September last year.

Trapattoni’s men will host the French at Croke Park on Saturday, November 14 before trying to complete the job at the Stade de France in Paris four days later.

France were one of four seeded teams Ireland could have drawn with Portugal, Greece and Russia landing Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine and Slovenia respectively.

Derby boss Nigel Clough is weighing up a January move for Crewe frontman Calvin Zola.

Clough has been keeping tabs on the player and he was a spectator at Valley Parade on Saturday as Zola blasted two goals in Crewe’s 3-2 success over Bradford City to improve their League Two odds.

Zola was a livewire all afternoon and Clough cannot have failed to have been impressed by the Zaire-born hitman.

The 24-year-old hammered home a superb half-volley from an almost impossible angle to put Dario Gradi’s men ahead before rattling home a 20-yard shot after some hesitant Bradford defending to take his season’s tally to nine goals.

Clough is chasing more firepower for his Championship side – who have netted 15 times in 11 league games – and he sees Zola as the man who can add a new dimension to his Pride Park squad.

The Rams boss is an admirer of Zola’s pace and trickery and will try and test the resolve of the League Two outfit with a £750,000 bid.

Crewe are desperate to keep hold of the former Newcastle starlet although a bid closer to £1million might prove too good to refuse.

The six foot three inch striker joined the Alex from Tranmere for £200,000 in the summer of 2008 and he has adapted to life in the bottom tier of English football with aplomb.

Zola has never been a prolific striker, but he has worked hard over the summer and already he seems to be reaping the benefit after his early season goal glut.

Harry Redknapp allowed full-back Gareth Bale to get the proverbial monkey off his back last Saturday as Tottenham brushed Burnley aside 5-0.

Bale finally tasted his first victory in a Premier League match – at the 25th time of asking after Redknapp brought Bale on in the 86th-minute for Aaron Lennon against the Clarets.

The 19-year-old Welsh star joined Spurs more than two years ago from Southampton but was not involved in a league win until the weekend, but his wait for a top-flight victory after starting a game continues.

Late strikes by Fulham and Liverpool in 2008 denied him a league success, then a foot injury in a defeat to Birmingham ruled the teenager out for the remainder of that campaign.

Last term saw Spurs fail to win in the league until Harry Redknapp’s appointment as manager, with Benoit Assou-Ekotto then preferred as his first-choice left-back.

Bale has been in and out of the squad since arriving in 2007 in a deal worth £10million and he will be delighted to brush off a bizarre statistic.

After missing pre-season and the start of the 09/10 PremierLeague campaign with a torn knee ligament, Bale returned for the midweek win over Preston in the Carling Cup.

“That’s why I put him on,” Redknapp said. “I thought we needed to break that hoodoo. It’s affected him, I think, but he played well in the Carling Cup match before.

“He’s a left-back really and he could be a top player.”

Hull City boss Phil Brown is believed to be in the firing line after the Tigers slumped to a 1-0 home defeat to Birmingham at the weekend and slipped into 19th place in the Premier League.

Brown’s men have clocked up just two victories in 2009 and chairman Paul Duffen is considering an experienced alternative to Brown in a bid to lift the Tigers’ gloom.

Duffen is a big admirer of Brown after the former Bolton assistant won promotion to the Premiership in his first full season in charge of the Yorkshire outfit and will be loathed to dispense with Brown, who he appointed in January 2007.

However last season’s flirt with relegation and with this season’s poor start, Brown is believed to be on borrowed time and with two home games looming against Wigan and Portsmouth two more defeats could spell the end of his tenure.

Brown’s infamous on-the-pitch team-talk at Manchester City last season can be traced back as the start of Hull’s collapse after a superb start to life in the Premier League.

However wins at Arsenal and Tottenham were soon forgotten as the Tigers found themselves 5-0 down at half-time at Eastlands on Boxing Day.

Brown’s decision to lambast his players on the pitch at half-time, did at the time look rash, but now looking back his actions were far more destructive with just two wins since that fateful day.

Just about any other club in the Premier League would have axed Brown considering his dreadful record, but Duffen has been patient, however even he is now considering a change of direction.

Former Celtic chief Gordon Strachan is believed to be heading the list of replacements with Duffen hoping some of the Scot’s experience can rub off on the squad at the KC Stadium.

Strachan – who left Celtic in the summer after a successful four-year stint north of the border – is believed to be ready for a return to the game after a four-month sabbatical.

However the former Southampton and Coventry chief might take some persuading to return to a club struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League.

England fans have got a lot to thank Fabio Capello for.

Not only have they qualified for the World Cup 2010 in style with two games to spare, but the Italian has finally dispelled the myth Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard cannot play together.

Sven-Goran Eriksson and Steve McClaren’s tenures in charge of the Three Lions were dogged by talk the midfield duo were unable to combine effectively for England. And the debate was certainly on the mind of McClaren who tried different combinations but could not get the best out of them.

But that’s long forgotten now and the subject has not even been approached by pundits and fans for some time and Wednesday night showed why.

The duo both scored twice in the 5-1 demolition of Croatia – the first time the pair have scored in the same England game for five years.

They have played in six of the eight qualifiers and only a groin injury last year kept Gerrard out of the wins in Croatia and Andorra.

There’s no doubt Capello has got the two of them buzzing, but unlike McClaren, Capello is his own man and has probably never even thought twice about omitting one of the two in his first-choice team.

Gerrard has lined up on the left of a four-man midfield in the World Cup qualifiers, with Lampard alongside Gareth Barry in the centre.

It might look like a tried and tested 4-4-2, but with Wayne Rooney roaming and two full-backs in Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson who are given licence to get forward, Capello’s formation is far more flexible.

Barry is a vital component of Capello’s side as he allows Lampard and Gerrard to maraud forward.

Aaron Lennon featured on the right against Croatia and he is a conventional winger with pace, but Gerrard offers a different dimension on the left.

His powerful runs in field are difficult to stop and Cole’s willingness to run beyond Gerrard from full-back give England an effective balance.

There has never been any doubt both Lampard and Gerrard are class acts, but only now are we seeing them excel in the same team.

Jermain Defoe has started the season like a man who’s got a point to prove. The Spurs striker has blasted four goals for his club and scored twice in England’s 2-2 draw with Holland last month and he looks determined to cement his place in Fabio Capello’s national football team.

And it’s easy to see why after the heartache the former Portsmouth star suffered back in 2006. Defoe was called up to the England World Cup squad as cover for Wayne Rooney, who was trying to recover from a broken metatarsal. He spent 10 days with Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men, only to be made to pack his bags and head home when Rooney declared his fitness.

“I get reminded by everyone,” said Defoe. “I will never forget it. It seems like yesterday. It is so clear in my mind.
“It was really hard because I actually travelled with the squad to Germany, then I had to go home.
“I suppose it made me stronger but I want to make sure I play this time round.”

The 25-year-old, who has netted 10 international goals, is in fine form and should get the nod from Capello – barring any injuries, to improve Englands international betting odds.
Defoe could even get a start alongside Wayne Rooney against Slovenia at the weekend ahead of next week’s crucial World Cup clash with Croatia. Capello could use the friendly to see the duo paired together, as so far none of Defoe’s England goals have come while Rooney has been on the pitch.

The Manchester United striker, who was once again missing from Capello’s squad for the friendly in Amsterdam, is hoping for a place in the squad for South Africa but the performances of Carlton Cole and Jermain Defoe will only have reaffirmed to Capello that his current forwards are the best on offer.

Defoe climbed off the bench and scored twice to rescue England, while West Ham striker Cole’s performance was also one packed with quality.

Cole sent one volley whistling wide of the Dutch goal after a neat piece of ball control, while his hold-up play was faultless.

“I saw Carlton Cole for West Ham against Napoli and I chose him because I could see he was in fantastic form.

“I spoke with one of the other coaches about Defoe who said he was doing really well.

“Jermain is one of the best English forwards,” said Capello.

“He can shoot with the left and right foot. He is very fast and his movement without the ball is fantastic.

“He always goes towards the goal and technically, he is excellent.”

Certainly Defoe has done enough to seal his place so far, in what is expected to be a four-man strikeforce, and only a monumental loss of form this season would see him miss out.

And that can only be bad news for Owen.

Owen has been sharp in pre-season but he and Defoe are believed to be chasing just one place in Capello’s squad which will be named in May and at the moment there’s only one winner.

With Wayne Rooney assured of a place on the plane, it’s a safe football bet that Peter Crouch, Emile Heskey and Cole will be battling it out for the two other spots.