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Our tips are listed below in date order.
To see our tips for the International leagues click here .
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| 2006 Tips for the future |
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| Starting XI Here's our team from the 12 players that we've tipped during 2006... |
| B.Sharp | S.Naismith |
| M.Jarvis | A.McGeady | G.Barnes | S.Whalley |
| G.Bale | A.Diamond | M.Bougherra | G.Halford |
| B.Foster |
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| Sub: S.Brown |
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| December |
| Name: | Matt Jarvis |
| Country: | England |
| Club: | Gillingham |
| Age: | 20 (22-05-1986) |
| Position: | Winger |
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Pacey winger who plays mainly on the left but can swap to the right or play up front. With Gillingham since 2003, his
form over the last year has caught the eye of premiership scouts, with Arsenal, Spurs, Villa and Newcastle all
reportedly sniffing around.
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| November |
| Name: | Giles Barnes |
| Country: | England |
| Club: | Derby County |
| Age: | 18 (05-08-1988) |
| Position: | Midfielder |
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Only signed for Derby as a trainee last summer but already a target for some of the big boys,
particularly Liverpool and Everton, who seem prepared to have an inter-scouse fight for him.
A great run of autumnal form has seen Barnes propel Derby up the league with some inspired performances
and key goals.
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| October |
| Name: | Majid Bougherra |
| Country: | Morocco |
| Club: | Sheffield Wednesday |
| Age: | 23 (07-10-1983) |
| Position: | Centre Half |
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Classy Moroccan centre-half who loves to get forward and bring the ball out of defence with a mazy dribble
or two thrown in for good measure. Signed on-loan for Crewe at the start of the year from French
club FC Gueugnon and his performances immediately alerted other clubs to his talent. Nicknamed
'Magic' Bougherra, its been suggested that he should play in a more attacking role, due to the
success of his surging runs. Click here
for a video clip of him in action for Crewe.
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| September |
| Name: | Steven Naismith |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Club: | Kilmarnock |
| Age: | 19 (14-09-1986) |
| Position: | Forward |
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Naismith won last year's Scottish football writers
Young Player of the Year award after notching 13 goals and a host of man of the match
performances. Killie fans have nicknamed him the 'Milky Bar Kid', whilst the Scottish media
have dubbed him 'the Scottish Wayne Rooney'. Whether that's in reference to his footballing
talent or a preference for older ladies was not made clear. At the end of last season he
was attracting scouts from the leading Scottish and English Championship clubs, but the big
Premiership clubs have recently started to take note as well.
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| August |
| Name: | Alexander Diamond |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Club: | Aberdeen |
| Age: | 21 (12-03-1985) |
| Position: | Centre Half |
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Captain of the Scottish U21 side, 'Zander' broke into the Aberdeen full team as an 18 year old
and quickly became a favourite with the Dons supporters with his whole-hearted displays at the
heart of the defence.
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| July |
| Name: | Scott Brown |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Club: | Hibernian |
| Age: | 21 (25-06-1985) |
| Position: | Midfielder |
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Temperamental midfielder who likes to get forward at every opportunity, Brown earned the nickname
'Broonaldo' by the Hibs fans. Regular U21 international, he
also gained a full international cap in last year's friendly against the USA. Missed a good chunk
of last season with a broken leg but now looking to get back on track in 2006-07.
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| June |
| Name: | Gareth Bale |
| Country: | Wales |
| Club: | Southampton |
| Age: | 16 (16-07-1989) |
| Position: | Left Back |
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A member of the youth team that reached the 2005 FA Youth Cup final,
Bale became Southampton's 2nd youngest ever player (behind Theo Walcott) when he made his
debut in April against Millwall.
A month later, he became the youngest ever Welsh international when he made his debut
against Trinidad and Tobago. A dead-ball specialist, Bale has a fantastic left foot
and loves to get forward.
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| May |
| Name: | Greg Halford |
| Country: | England |
| Club: | Colchester |
| Age: | 21 (08-12-1984) |
| Position: | Right Back |
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Joined Colchester as a trainee, this genuine jack of all trades has now played in
defence, midfield and even attack for
Colchester's senior team and England's youngsters.
Recently linked with Pompey, West Ham and, most strongly, Sheff Utd, Halford is out of contract
next summer and understandably keen to test himself at the highest level as soon an possible.
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| April |
| Name: | Billy Sharp |
| Country: | England |
| Club: | Scunthorpe |
| Age: | 20 (05-02-1986) |
| Position: | Striker |
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Signed from Sheffield Utd in 2005, Sharp made an immediate impact with Scunthorpe and
is on target to be League One's top scorer. An excellent finisher and goal-poacher, he is now
being linked with a number of bigger clubs less than a year after signing for the Irons.
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| March |
| Name: | Aiden McGeady |
| Country: | Scotland/R.Ireland |
| Club: | Celtic |
| Age: | 19 (04-04-1986) |
| Position: | Attacking midfielder |
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Glaswegian born, the attacking midfielder, nicknamed Aideninho by the Celtic hordes,
has been tipped for footballing stardom from an early age.
Despite being born in Scotland and playing for several of the country's youth teams,
McGeady has now opted to play for Ireland, his grandparents nationality.
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| February |
| Name: | Simon Whaley |
| Country: | England |
| Club: | Preston North End |
| Age: | 20 (07-06-1985) |
| Position: | Winger |
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Local north-west boy who caught PNE's eye at the start of the season after smashing home several
spectacular winners for Bury. Confident winger who plays with style and a swagger, he
eventually joined Billy Davies outfit for £300k last month after potential moves to several
other championship clubs broke down.
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| January |
| Name: | Ben Foster |
| Country: | England |
| Club: | Man Utd |
| Age: | 22 (03-04-1983) |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
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Eyebrows were raised when Sir Alex Ferguson paid Stoke £1m for Foster without the youngster
making a single 1st team appearance for the Potters. However, his performances on loan at
Watford have more than justified the price tag and rumours have it that several Premiership
clubs will be vying to take him on loan next season.
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