Charles N'Zogbia will have learned a valuable lesson during this transfer window. Never mouth off about your team unless you're absolutely certain of a move. With a proposed transfer to Birmingham falling through at the final stage, N'Zogbia now faces the prospect of spending at least the next four months stuck at a club who don't really like him.

The Frenchman didn't need to hand in a transfer request with Wigan. The club's owner Dave Whelan has made it clear since he has been in charge that he won't stand in the way of any of his players who get the chance of moving to bigger clubs. Whelan's only sticking point is that he demands interested clubs pay the right price for his players. The Premier League odds indicate Wigan will never win huge amounts of prize money, so the club has to balance the books somehow.

N'Zogbia could have stayed quiet and waited for bids to arrive while ensuring he stayed in Wigan's good books. After creating a fuss about moving and then failing to agree personal terms, N'Zogbia is stuck in a kind of limbo. The Frenchman's attitude won't have impressed many interested clubs and despite his obvious talent, teams won't be keen on taking on a problem player.

His manager at Wigan, Roberto Martinez, has made it clear, N'Zogbia faces a battle to get himself back into the first team. Although the Frenchman is one of Wigan's best players, in a season where the football odds suggest the club will face a relegation battle, team spirit will be integral to the club's survival.

Dave Whelan is from the old school, he won't be bullied by the 24-year-old upstart. If N'Zogbia keep whooping and wailing about a move then he could face a future in the Wigan reserves till someone takes a chance on him.

How quickly the wheel can turn!

Not so long ago, it appeared that Liverpool had finally moved forward after a horrendous summer that saw the club lurch from crisis to crisis.

But with Joe Cole already descending from the heavens and rejoining the mere mortals of Merseyside after a sending off and a missed penalty - and Javier Mascherano now on his way out of the club - Roy Hodgson must already be thinking of packing his bags and leaving a club which is seemingly always in a perpetual state of self-destruction.

Having seen off the threat of a mass exodus earlier in the summer by securing the future of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, Hodgson must have been caught blindsided by the decision of Dirk Kuyt to announce he wants to join Mascherano and jump ship. Although Kuyt has since committed himself to the Liverpool cause, it isn't exactly the most stabilising rumour to hit the dressing room and may have a ripple effect on the English Premiership betting.

With fans already suggesting that Hodgson will be under pressure unless his side are in the mix for the European places sooner rather than later, and the club still looking for a new owner, there must be concerns that the new man in charge will want someone to manage the club who they have chosen, thus representing a threat to Hodgson's job security.

With Hodgson clearly a man who will not be bossed around by interfering owners, and with his new club in dire need of a takeover to help secure a successful future, it is not the most unlikely scenario in the world that a new takeover may result in Hodgson's exit.

After falling out with manager Louis van Gaal, Argentine defender Martin Demichelis has been told he can leave Bayern Munich before the current transfer window closes.

Van Gaal opened the door for prospective bids by declaring "He can go if he wants to, it would be no problem for me."

Van Gaal's decision to leave the centre back out of their last game against Wolfsburg seems to have signalled the end of Demichelis' Bayern career. Various clubs throughout Europe have been mentioned as possible destinations for the 30 cap Argentina international.

Chelsea, Barcelona, Sevilla and Juventus are all reportedly monitoring the situation closely and should one of the two Spanish sides sign him, their odds for the title could greatly improve in the La Liga odds.

In his seven years in Munich, Demichelis has made over 150 appearances, winning four Bundesliga titles in that time as well as four German Cups and two German Super Cups. However, the defender's absence didn't affect the German champions in their 2-1 success against Wolfsburg on Friday and they are still favourites to win the league in the Bundesliga odds.

The defender first made a name for himself in his home country with River Plate. After coming through their famed youth set-up, Demichelis made over 50 appearances in the River first team.

Javier Mascherano's drawn out transfer saga appears to be nearing an end as his club Liverpool have entered talks with Barcelona.

The Argentinean was left out of his side's recent 3-0 defeat to Manchester City as his manager, Roy Hodgson, decided the midfielder wasn't in the right frame of mind.

It is believed that Barca had a bid of £16million rejected by the Merseyside club, who are holding out for nearer £25million. Barcelona shouldn't be surprised by the price tag as Mascherano has proven himself as one of the world's best ball winning midfielders of recent years.

The Argentina captain has made it known that he is looking to leave England and move to the warmer climes of Spain or Italy. He has assured Liverpool fans it has nothing to do with the club and was based purely on his wish to move from England.

Barcelona are looking to fill the void in their midfield left by Yaya Toure's departure to Manchester City. They are hoping to claim the La Liga title ahead of rivals Real Madrid again this season and the Spanish La Liga betting odds suggest they could be successful. Mascherano would be a perfect replacement for Toure as both like to sit in front of their defence and break up the opposition's play.

Mascherano has played nearly 100 games in his three years at Liverpool since joining from West Ham after his brief spell in London. It was widely believed the 26 year old would follow his former manager Rafa Benitez to Inter Milan but it appears now that last season's La Liga champions Barca are leading the chase. Hodgson will be hoping to resolve the player's future as soon as possible and not let the situation drag on.

Last season Nottingham Forest narrowly missed out on automatic promotion by one place. They then lost out to Blackpool in the play-off, killing Forest fans dreams of a long awaited return to the big time once again.

Billy Davis is trying to build a squad this summer that will put them up there with the favourite odds to win the championship. It's been over 10 years since Forest were in England's top tier.

Davis has been linked with a lorry load of players this summer, but has so far found it hard to actually sign many. Radoslaw Majewski has made his loan deal a permanent one but apart from that nobody else has joined the club.

A bid for Sheffield Wednesday's Jamaican winger Jermaine Johnson was rejected by the League One club. Approaches for Nicky Shorey and Peter Whittingham have also been made. So far both remained unanswered.

Shorey spent the beginning of last season on loan at Forest and Davis is keen to sign the player on a permanent deal. Cardiff's Whittingham is entering the last year of his contract in Wales. With Cardiff struggling with financial issues they may look to cash in on the player who scored 20 league goals last season.

Davis is also keen not to lose anymore of his squad who managed a third place finish last season. James Perch was sold to Newcastle, when the Forest board took matters into their own hands. This has made Davis determined to keep the rest of his key players such as Kelvin Davis and Chris Cohen.

Newcastle will go into their comeback season in the top flight, lacking Premier League firepower. Shola Ameobi, Andy Carroll, Xisco and Leon Best are currently the attacking options available to Chris Hughton.

Ameobi is the only striker to have any real Premier League experience. He scored ten league goals last season in an injury hit year in the Championship, but his Premier League record is far from great.

Andy Carroll was Newcastle's joint top scorer last season with 17 goals to help his side win the league and will be his club's main striker this year after being given the hallowed number nine shirt. However, he has only previously scored three goals at this level. Still, you can bet Premier League glory is what he has set his mind on this term.

Spanish striker Xisco cost Newcastle nearly £6 million when he was signed from Deportivo La Coruna two years ago, but he only scored once in his first season and was loaned out to Racing Santander at the beginning of the last.

Back in Spain he only managed to find the net six times, but Hughton has made it clear that he will give Xisco a chance to prove his worth going into the new season.

The other option for Hughton is former Coventry striker Leon Best. Best has never played in the top flight and his record in the lower leagues is hardly prolific, so it looks like he will struggle.

Titus Bramble could be set for a move to Sunderland as Steve Bruce looks to shore up his defence ahead of the new season.

The former Wigan boss has had a frustrating time of things as he looks to sign new defenders and now it seems he could raid his old club to bring in Bramble.

According to the Daily Mail, Bruce is set to pay £5 million for the defender who has revitalised his career in the north-west.

If the move does go ahead, Bramble would be returning to a familiar area of the country - he spent several seasons at Newcastle United.

During his time at St James' park he became infamous for a series of high-profile defensive errors and was widely regarded as something of a flop.

However, he had a much better time of things under Steve Bruce in Wigan and was even given the club's Player of the Year award two seasons ago, meaning he could perhaps boost Sunderland's premier league tournament odds for this season

Scunthorpe striker Gary Hooper is proving to be the most highly sought after players outside the Premiership. With Hooper entering the final year of his contract, Scunthorpe are looking to cash in on their prized asset.

The battle appears to be between Celtic, Leeds, Blackpool and Derby. Middlesbrough were interested in the striker, but after the signing of Kris Boyd, they look to have pulled out of the race. It appears that Scunthorpe are holding out for up to £3million, a high price for a player who will be able to leave for free next summer.

Leeds have been linked with Hooper by Championship betting pundits on and off for a while now. With Jermaine Beckford's departure to Everton, Leeds will be looking to fill the gap up-front. Blackpool will offer the player the chance in the Premiership, albeit maybe for only a season.

Derby boss Nigel Clough has made it clear the asking price is too high for his club as he looks to sign a player before Championship and Carling Cup Betting kicks into gear next month.

Scottish giants Celtic sent scouts to watch Hooper last season and were impressed. Neil Lennon is rumoured to be weighing up a bid, after his team lost Robbie Keane and Diomansy Kamara at the end of last season.

The 22 year old has his best season of his career last term, he scored 20 goals in a Scunthorpe team who struggled much of the season.

After only scoring twice in two years at Southend, Hooper was loaned out to Leyton Orient and Hereford before being snapped up by Scunthorpe. Under Nigel Adkins, Hooper has turned into one of the best strikers outside the Premiership. At just 22, Hooper is still developing as a player. It remains to be seen at which club he will continue to develop.

Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac doesn't believe that the pressure of being the last African team in the World Cup will affect his team's performance in tonight's quarter-final tie with Uruguay.

The Ghana team are carrying the hopes of the host continent as they look to become the first African team to reach the last four of the World Cup. Ghana world cup odds suggest they can do it, an expectation that increases pressure further.

Rajevac says that his team will ‘not change our style or worry about so-called pressure' though. He also states that they are ‘under no obligation to make history', even though they will be doing everything they can do to so.

In a way though, Ghana have already made history. They are only the third African team to reach the quarter-final stage of the World Cup, after all.

Kwesi Nyantakyi, president of Ghana's football federation, has been having his say on the clash with Uruguay too. He says that the team are ‘supported by the whole of Africa' because in Africa, ‘we are one person'.

Uruguay world cup betting experts do have them down as slight favourites. Led by Diego Forlan, the Uruguayans have been very impressive in this tournament so far and have exceeded their own expectations.

Mexico coach Javier Aguirre has quit his post following his teams exit from the World Cup. He steps down following his sides 3-1 second round defeat against Argentina, their fifth successive defeat at the last 16 stage of the finals.

It was Aguirre's second spell as national coach, he took over from Sven-Goran Eriksson 15 months ago, after the Swede's disastrous time spell in charge.

Mexico can count themselves unlucky to have come up against an impressive Argentina team at the knock-out stage

They looked impressive in Group A, beating France 2-0 and drawing with hosts South Africa to finish second. Those betting world cup quarter finals money on who would progress never back the Mexicans if we are being honest.

Argentina were too strong for them and much betting world cup semi final money will be placed on them beating Germany in the next round and making it to the last four.

The future looks bright for Mexico though, Javier Hernandez, Carlos Vela and Giovani dos Santos all looked impressive in South Africa. All three are under 23 and will have the chance to perform in future World Cups. New Manchester United striker Hernandez showed his class with his two goals at these finals, he will be hoping to challenge for a first team spot at Old Trafford this season.