Following the press speculation that Big Sam was leaving the Reebok stadium at the end of the season it has been confirmed that his position at Bolton Wanderers has been terminated with immediate effect.

The reports had indicated that Allardyce is due to replace Stuart Pearce in the summer as part of the planned takeover of Manchester City.

Allardyce has admitted that he wanted to stay until the end of the season and that he believed that he had taken the Trotters as far as he could. He was the Premiership’s third longest serving manager after Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

Newcastle United manager Glenn Roeder has dismissed newspaper reports that Kieron Dyer is to be transferred to Tottenham in the Summer Transfer Window. The Toon manager will have to sell to generate revenue to re-invest in his squad, after spending heavily last year with little or no reward as a result.

Should Roeder change his mind, Dyer would have to adjust his wage expectations as he currently earns more than twice as much as Spurs highest earner Robbie Keane. If he is to join former Newcastle team mate Jermaine Jenas at Spurs.

Not having to pay his £80k a week would allow Roeder to bring in a couple of less injury prone players on a more moderate salary, effectively strengthening the Newcastle squad on the cheap.

Spurs need to shed a few midfielders themselves but if they were to add to their ranks, Dyer may not fit the profile that Spurs are after. Director of Football Damien Comolli looks to sign young emerging talent, or slightly older players who do not look for the world on a plate as part of their contract demands.

Should West Ham United get relegated or if the Premier League terminate his registration, Carlos Tevez could be the missing lynch pin between the Spurs midfield and forwards that has been missing since the departure of Carrick to Manchester United. The Argentinean has been West Ham’s best player this season, single-handedly trying to keep them in the Premiership. His runs, range of passing and shooting ability are the missing ingredient that the Spurs midfield mix is missing. Tevez can also be drafted in to a more advanced role and could fill the shoes of Defoe or Mido should they leave during the summer.

As another season comes to a close the speculation of the future of some of restless talents in the Premiership begin to surface. Yet again it seems that there are some people who are determined to unsettle Jermain Defoe with talk of a move to Old Trafford to join up with old team mate Michael Carrick.

The move would make sense for Defoe as it would cement his place in the England squad as even mediocre players like Kieron Richardson can get in to the England team on the strength of being a Manchester United player. Defoe has become a target for Sir Alex Ferguson following the injury of Michael Owen and Newcastle’s reluctance to sell a player who has not really played for them since joining them from Real Madrid.

The two early kick-offs that were both shown live on SkySports could have helped decide the fate of the Premiership trophy. Manchester United travelled to an emotional Goodison Park where Everton were mourning the loss of old boy Alan Ball.

The Toffees players all wore Alan Ball t-shirts before the game as a tribute to the World Cup winner. Everton went two goals up through Stubbs and Manuel Fernandes and they looked on course to give Ball a fitting tribute. However of late United have been unstoppable, scoring goals at will and this game was no different. John O’Shea opened the United account, then former United player and Everton captain Phil Neville scored an own goal to bring the sides level.

Then it was the turn of Manchester United striker and former Everton player Wayne Rooney to put his team ahead for the first time. Then in injury time 17 year old Chris Eagles scored to put the game beyond doubt.

Meanwhile in South West London Chelsea were playing host to Bolton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge. The trotters went a goal up through Michaik inside twenty minutes, only to allow Salomon Kalou equalise for Chelsea three minutes later. Wanderers found themselves a goal behind when Jaaskelainen scored and own goal.

After the break Bolton hitman Kevin Davies drew the visitors level and they managed to hold on until the bitter end and possibly end the Champions defence of their title.

After a two day hearing in the Premier League kangaroo court West Ham United eluded the points deduction punishment, but were given a huge fine of £5.5m instead.

The ludicrous situation that exists is the doing of the Premier League, they are the governing body and they should as part of the registration process require the full disclosure of the necessary documents before the players are registered and able to compete for their new club.

Many had thought that the club would be deducted points for fielding an unregistered player, but Tevez and Mascherano were both registered to West Ham. Does the ownership of the players really matter? The world governing body FIFA appeared to condone individuals owning players, so how does it contravene Premier League Rules? How does a club loaning a player owned by an individual differ from a club loaning a player from another club? How is it wrong? Why was the fine so extortionate?

If the punishment is a fine, surely those who completed the transaction should be liable to pay it, Terry Brown and his board were responsible for bringing the club and game in to disrepute not those who are in charge at the moment. Perhaps the new management of the club will bring civil action against the old board.

Jens Lehmann has accepted the obligatory one-year contract extension that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger gives to his ageing stars. The Frenchman introduced a policy a few years ago, where he would only offer players over 30 years old one-year deals when their original deals expired.

Thirty-seven year old Lehmann had been linked with a number of moves that would seen him finish his career back to his native Germany. He had been considering the potential moves because he felt as he was worthy of a two-year deal, probably because goalkeepers seem to age better than out field players. Lehmann can be a bit of a liability at times, and his short fuse has seen him and his team suffer needless yellow cards, the last of which was received during last weeks London derby with Tottenham Hotspur.

Wenger will no doubt look to secure the services of a talented youngster who can come in and learn from Lehmann safe in the knowledge that the German will be gone within twelve months.

The Spanish striker has been touted for a move to south London from Valencia for some time. He has performed consistently again in La Liga and shone during Valencia’s UEFA Champions League campaign.

Villa is also on the wanted list of former Valencia coach Rafa Benitez but he has told the media that he has not plans to leave the Mestalla by saying “I am very happy in Valencia”.

He qualified his position when he continued with “I have no interest in the rumours about Chelsea or other clubs.”

Yes, the headline is correct! Woodgate has got the move he has dreamed about since he was a boy. He had been on loan as part of his recovery from the recurring injury that ended his Newcastle United playing career.

Woodgate has been playing well and receiving rave reviews from fans and pundits alike. However Madrid have elected to sell him for a fee believed to be around £7m rather than recall him to play in their defence.

It appears that after a long search and intense negotiations that Gareth Southgate has found a player that can fill the gaping hole in the Boro defence his transition to management created.

Premiership champions Chelsea have the edge over Liverpool in Champions League semi-final, in the rematch of the same fixture from 2005.

The game failed to live up to the pre-match hype, and it seemed almost second rate in comparison to the footballing feast that was offered the night before when Manchester United played AC Milan in the other semi final.

Chelsea looked the most dangerous from the outset, Didier Drogba posing the greatest threat on Jose Reina’s goal. However it was his industry in out muscling Daniel Agger that allowed him to cut inside and play the ball in to the path of Joe Cole. Despite the challenge of Arbeloa, Cole managed to guide the ball past Reina.

Crouch was brought in to the game to replace an ineffective Craig Bellamy, who was having a better game than Bolo Zenden who managed to stay on the pitch for the full ninety minutes.

The blues seemed content to hold Liverpool at arms length and attack on the break Lampard coming closest to increasing the lead of the home side. When he volleyed a knockdown from Drogba that forced a fantastic save by Reina to keep his team in the game.

Having suffered defeat in the away leg Liverpool will have to replicate the 2-0 home victory they had over Chelsea in the Premiership earlier this season if they are to make it to the Champions League final this year.

English football will mourn the passing of one of its less glamorous sons, as while the media glorifies the World Cup final goals of Peters and Hurst, there is little mention of the tireless running of Alan Ball that helped England to win the Jules Rimet trophy on home soil.

Hampshire police have reported that Alan Ball died of a heart attack as he tried to dampen the blaze of a bonfire in his garden.

Ball’s playing career began with Blackpool, and during the twenty-one years of playing he had nine different clubs, playing for the tangerines twice. He is best remembered for his spells at Everton, Arsenal and Southampton who he eventually went on to manage. Ball like many of the big names of his era found himself playing in the original Major League Soccer or as it was known then the North American Soccer League in the United States.

After trying to pit his wits in the managerial arena for a number of years, Ball found his niche working as a pundit for SkySports and was involved in the coverage of the first fixture that took place in the new Wembley.