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Paul Scholes and Thierry Henry have returned to former clubs, but which old stalwarts would you like to make a comeback?

After the comebacks of Thierry Henry and Paul Scholes, we asked Premier League fans who they would like to see return.

ARSENAL

Tony Adams

What’s the charge constantly levelled at this Arsenal side? A lack of leadership. While the character seems somewhat improved after Wenger’s late August transfer flurry, surely a team led from the back by Tony Adams would have held on for three points against the likes of Wolves and Fulham over the Christmas period. Toby Moses

ASTON VILLA

Thomas Hitzlsperger

Aston Villa supporters would always welcome Thomas Hitzlsperger back even if “Der Hammer” was a little sniffy when he left for Stuttgart in 2005 saying he wanted to join a “bigger club”. Villa lack a goalscoring midfielder with a powerful long-range shot and the German didn’t earn that soubriquet for nothing. He is still only 30 and Villa were hopeful of signing him when he left West Ham last year. Whether his current club Wolfsburg are “bigger” than Villa is a moot point. Ian Malin

BLACKBURN

Alan Shearer

When you are looking up at the rest of the Premier League, goals are gold dust and no one sprinkled it over Blackburn Rovers like Alan Shearer. He scored 30 goals or more for three consecutive seasons from 1994, blasted Rovers to the Premier League title and was the fans’ must-buy shirt. Too old? At 41 he’s only three years older than Ryan Giggs. Nick Duxbury

BOLTON

Jay-Jay Okocha

While the temptation – based on league position and Ivan Klasnic’s uninspiring shows up front – is to call for the return of a Daniel Sturridge or Johan Elmander, the footballing heart wants what it wants – and the sentimental Bolton fan’s heart wants to see Jay-Jay Okocha don white once more. The sight of the Nigerian superstar stepping-over and dummying, with all the authority of his experience, before unleashing goalwards a trademark curling effort, still evokes a fond nostalgia at the Reebok. Skilful while professional; flashy, yet substantial; good-humoured, but focused, always willing to give 100% to a perpetually glamourless cause: Jay-Jay, you’re always welcome back here. Jack Leahy

CHELSEA

Gus Poyet

Chelsea spent last summer chasing a diminutive magician who could supply missing creativity and unlock opposition defences … and even aged 45 Gianfranco Zola would have been ideal. But although the Sardinian genius was voted Chelsea’s best ever player, my choice in this strange, inconsistent season (and despite his unfortunate dalliances with Tottenham and Leeds) would be Gustavo Poyet: goals, guile and an unquenchable will to win. Chris Taylor

EVERTON

Wayne Rooney

Given Everton’s current situation, you could virtually take your pick of players from the turn of the century. The names of Arteta, Pienaar, Lescott, Johnson, Radzinski, Yakubu, Ferguson would all improve the team. I wouldn’t go quite as far as Gascoigne or Ginola, but if there’s one player who has left the club who could still do a job and you’d take back, it has to be Wayne Rooney. He may have left under a cloud and not be too popular at Goodison Park, but he’s Manchester United and England’s talisman and is still only 26. Can it really be 10 years ago this summer he made his Everton debut? Martin Rose

FULHAM

Brian McBride

With Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson both reportedly unsettled, the big-hearted American Brian McBride could surely turn the clock back – a true leader of the line as recently as 2008 with his intelligent movement, all-round awareness and ability to nod on or hold up. He might even encourage Johnson to stay. He is not 40 until June and is well remembered at Craven Cottage in the renamed sports bar McBride’s. Steed Malbranque, 32 last week, would also be welcome, though his busy, scurrying runs, appreciated in the Chris Coleman years, might not fit Fulham’s current tempo of approach and he was nothing like as effective under Martin Jol at Tottenham or subsequently at Sunderland. No sooner did he go to St Etienne than he retired. At 32 he could shine again with Fulham’s love. Jeremy Alexander

LIVERPOOL

Jan Molby

Simply the finest passer I’ve ever seen in a Liverpool shirt – Xabi Alonso included. The Great Dane could land the ball on a fivepenny piece from 40 yards. His hulking frame gave him the ammunition to hit a fierce dead ball too – it also gave him numerous injury problems. He was the perfect holding player before English football adopted the 4-5-1 formation. A thinking man’s footballer before his time. With modern-day fitness coaches Molby could more than fill the void left by Alonso in Liverpool’s midfield. Gregg Roughley

MANCHESTER CITY

Colin Bell

Colin Bell would finally return free from injury at the age of 65. The crowd would roar themselve hoarse as they did when he returned on Boxing Day 1977 against Newcastle. But instead of being a limping, shuffling shadow of his former self, this time he would play 200 more games, scoring another 100 goals in the process. His nickname, Nijinsky, said it all – named after the racehorse, but it could as easily have been the ballet dancer. King Colin would prove himself the most complete English midfielder of all time. On my bench of returnees would be Shaun Goater for his soul, Kenny Clements for his heart, Nicolas Anelka for his selflessness (honest) and Denis Law for his nerve. Simon Hattenstone

MANCHESTER UNITED

Denis Law

Every team needs goals and to see United’s strikers outside of Wayne Rooney struggling to hit the net brings back memories of a player who made scoring seem so effortless. If you told people now that a Scottish striker could be European footballer of the year they would laugh in your face, but Denis Law was only the second Briton after Stanley Matthews to win the award. The wiry Law may have been as thin as a matchstick but his refusal to be intimidated and his immense bravery, agility and sharpness around the box saw him average better than a goal every two matches for United. Each strike was saluted by a huge grin and raised fist and it was this infectious relish for the game that endeared him to the fans. His last eight years at United were blighted by a debilitating knee injury that was “treated” by putting hot poultices on it. The injury robbed him of a place in the 1968 European Cup-winning team and what should have been the crowning glory for the man nicknamed the King of Old Trafford. Mark Redding

NEWCASTLE

Alan Shearer

The Premier League’s record goalscorer is still looking quite trim on the Match of the Day sofa and will have benefited from the significant amount of time he has been spending enjoying the energising rays of Barbados. Sure, the pace went a long time ago. But I reckon the, er, 41-year-old would still have some of the old power and magic. And he’s not someone who is ever going to forget where the goal is. There would be some tasty strikes in a Demba Ba/Alan Shearer partnership. Demba could do the mobile, acrobatic goals like his one against Man Utd. Shearer could do the penalties and a few belters from outside the box. I’m sure the faithful at the Sports Direct Arena would like to see that one-armed goal salute again. Mark Oliver

NORWICH

Darren Huckerby

In the out-of-retirement stakes, Norwich fans didn’t take long to decide who they were backing: Darren Huckerby. The former Coventry, Leeds and Man City winger became a club legend in his five seasons in Norfolk. He’s also reinvented himself as something of a voice on Twitter and has been RTing requests for him to come out of retirement, only with the added suffix: “Legs gone”. Derided by some as a head-down merchant during his big club days, Hucks was always highly effective for Norwich, getting us promotion after signing in 2004 and becoming one of the few players to emerge with any honour from our sole season in the top flight. Now a regular in the Carrow Road stands, he’s truly one of us. Paul MacInnes

QPR

Clarke Carlisle

With Rangers languishing in 17th in the Premier League, one might think there would be plenty of former greats who could come back and Do a Thierry to perk things up. But that ignores Loftus Road history: the last decade has seen QPR relegated to the third tier, promoted back, and largely struggling until last season’s promotion. The players who became genuine heroes in that period are now retired (Paul Furlong) or seeing out their careers way down the league (Gareth Ainsworth). And neither of them, even young and at their peak, would be likely to be able to drag the Rs out of the mire. On the other hand, there are scores of players we’d never want to see at Loftus Road again. But if forced to pick one current player to return to Loftus Road, I think I’d have to plump – in the absence of anything better – for Clark Carlisle. But on one condition: that I am also granted a time machine to get the Clark Carlisle who played 27 games for Rangers before tearing his posterior cruciate ligament against Fulham in January 2001. Before then he’d looked like a potential England centre-back; afterwards he was never quite the same. As a footnote, that game also saw Richard Langley – at that point, quite the most promising player in a hooped shirt – tear his cruciate, too. Like Carlisle, he was never the same again either. Michael Hann

STOKE

Mark Stein

This is a tough one given the current Stoke squad is probably the best we have had for the last 40 years, but if I had to choose one player it would have to be Mark Stein. He is the type of small, nippy striker we’re lacking right now, someone with a proven track record, a good work ethic, and who was simply adored by the Stoke fans during his two-odd years at the club. He signed from Oxford in 1991 when we were in the old Third Division and went on to score over 50 goals in fewer than 90 appearances – including a corker against Manchester United in the League Cup – and helped us get promoted. He also did well at Chelsea after joining them in 1993 but seemed to miss a sitter every time he played against us, which only made our fans love him more. Richard Murphy

SUNDERLAND

Kevin Phillips

Goalscoring hasn’t been a problem since Martin O’Neill took over at the Stadium of Light, but in the barren latter stages of Steve Bruce’s stagnant regime, Sunderland were crying out for a goal-poacher with the positional sense of Super Kev in his prime … or even his current 38-year-old sub-prime. The former forklift truck driver remains the only Englishman to win the European Golden Boot and has scored seven goals in 23 appearances for Blackpool this season, proving he still remembers where the goal is, even in his most senior moments. Barry Glendenning

SWANSEA

James Thomas

Swansea’s current squad is vastly superior to that at any point since the early 1980s, but if I had to pick one former player to come back it would be James Thomas. He was a versatile, hard-working forward who joined us from Blackburn in 2002 looking to relaunch his career. He was a local boy who clearly loved playing and scoring for his hometown club and will forever be remembered for his final day of the season hat-trick at the Vetch Field against Hull, which saved the club from the Conference and possible extinction. Tragically, injuries forced him to retire soon after but no individual has played a bigger part in Swansea’s recent ascendancy than him. If it were possible, I’d have him back tomorrow. Ben Szwediuk

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

David Ginola

The silken-haired footballer-cum-model is possibly the best £2.5m Tottenham have ever spent – and the ebullient Frenchman was definitely “worth it”. In just three seasons he became a living legend at White Hart Lane. Who can forget his amazing dribble and goal in the FA Cup against Barnsley in 1999 or the swerving long-range strike against Manchester United en route to the League Cup trophy the same year? Bring him on as a late sub for a tiring Rafael van der Vaart and let him loose – what a thought. Ian Tasker

WOLVES

Steve Bull

It’s a straightforward choice between two iconic figures, from different eras, forever associated with Molineux. The first was a rangy striker, trademark sideburns and moustache and a propensity for the unexpected. But, would Derek Dougan ensure Premier League survival? Sadly not. Anyway, we’ve got Steven Fletcher who with his angular, elongated frame bears something of a resemblance to the Doog. No, it has to be Steve Bull. Fast, strong, brave, direct, 306 goals in 561 games; Jarvis’s crosses and Fletcher’s knockdowns would have him starring on Match of the Day week after week. And, it would correct a historical aberration – the great man never started a game in the top division. Paul Johnson

WEST BROM

Richard Sneekes

I’d bring back the long-haired Dutchman Richard Sneekes, who had some golden years at The Hawthorns from 1996-2001. The entertaining midfielder was certainly not shot-shy but also not always accurate as his scoring record of 34 goals in 251 appearances will attest. The former Ajax player quickly became a fans’ favourite after scoring this bullet for the Baggies against Leicester in 1996. A potential revenue stream could be reopened by dusting off the club shop’s unsold blond wigs which were popular among Albion fans in the late 90s, which should please Jeremy Peace. Sneekes is currently first-team coach at Hereford so he only lives an hour’s drive down the road and he’s only 43. Ranjit Dhaliwal

WIGAN

Any defender

Well, where do you start? Any of the classy centre-halves we’ve let go over the years from Colin Methven to Peter Atherton would be more reliable facing Premier League strikers than the current lot, though Methven ran a card shop on Blackpool prom last I heard, so might not be match fit. But seriously, who’d have thought that we could buy centre-halves – Gohouri, Alcaraz, López and Captain Calamity Gary Caldwell – that would be error-prone enough to make us pine for the return of Titus Bramble? Right now, Roberto needs to reinstate the reliable Emmerson Boyce to steady the ship, and then recall the class and professionalism of his old lower-league muckers Arjan de Zeeuw, Jason de Vos or the superb Matt Jackson. Martin Horsfield

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• Stewart Downing arrested in Yarm
• Police say ‘inquiries are ongoing’

The Liverpool winger Stewart Downing has been arrested on suspicion of assault.

The 27-year-old, who has 32 caps for England and joined Liverpool from Aston Villa last year, was arrested early on Sunday morning after an alleged confrontation with a former girlfriend at the Cross Keys club, on Yarm High Street.

The Daily Mail website quoted a local source as saying: “She went over to one of his friends and said something that she shouldn’t have. He butted in and they were arguing. Police got there as they were thrown out. He caused a scene outside the club as well, when he realised they were going to take him in.”

A police spokesman said: “Police were called to an incident at a pub on Yarm High Street. A 27-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and a 32-year-old woman has also been arrested on suspicion of assault. Both are in custody and inquiries are ongoing.”

Liverpoolguardian.co.uk

The woodwork continues to frustrate Liverpool and Luis Suárez in particular but this was never going to be one of those days when Kenny Dalglish would be left lamenting the number of times that his side have been denied by the upright or crossbar. Liverpool were already two goals to the good by the time that Suárez was shaking his head after twice striking the goal frame – something Dalglish’s side have now done on 17 occasions this season – with a listless Aston Villa never looking like getting back into the game.

Liverpool were in complete control and cruised towards a fifth away win of the season in the Premier League in Dalglish’s 350th match in charge of the club. Craig Bellamy and Martin Skrtel scored the early goals that exposed the home team’s defensive frailties on set pieces and, but for Suárez’s misfortune in front of goal and a couple of fine saves from Brad Guzan, the margin of victory would have been far greater.

Villa, missing the suspended Gabriel Agbonlahor and injured Darren Bent, could have been forgiven for looking short up front but excuses were not so readily available for their shortcomings in other departments. There was little pattern to their play and the ball was given away far too easily on far too many occasions. The boos from the home supporters that greeted the final whistle were predictable and, with a home fixture against Arsenal and away trips to Stoke and Chelsea to come over the next fortnight, it is difficult to imagine the mood improving in these parts any time soon.

With only 15 minutes on the clock, Liverpool had struck twice and were coasting. Both goals came from corner kicks, which has been a common theme for Villa this season – eight of the 21 goals they have conceded in the Premier League have come via that source.

Downing, who was booed every time he touched the ball against his former club, will have taken particular pleasure from his involvement in the first. His inswinging delivery arrived at the feet of Suárez via a clever flick from Jonjo Shelvey at the near post, and although Guzan denied the Uruguayan, the Villa keeper was helpless to prevent Bellamy turning in the rebound from inside the six-yard box. The second goal came from the other side of the pitch, Bellamy’s corner kick picking out Skrtel, who outjumped Alan Hutton to send a glancing header over Guzan.

Although Charles N’Zogbia threatened on a couple of occasions for Villa, those were rare home efforts on goal on an afternoon when Liverpool were dominant and looked dangerous every time they attacked. Suárez hit the goal frame for the first time in the 47th minute, when he picked Richard Dunne’s pocket and stepped inside James Collins before thumping the ball against the bar. Guzan was well beaten on that occasion and the same was true 10 minutes later, when Suárez clipped a delightful chip over the American’s head only for it to cannon off the far upright.

To give the Villa goalkeeper his due, he excelled on a couple of other occasions, repelling Glen Johnson’s piledriver, after Stephen Warnock had carelessly given away possession, and diving full-stretch to beat away an angled drive from Shelvey. The Liverpool midfielder would have had an even better chance to add a third Liverpool goal moments later but Charlie Adam selfishly opted to go it alone, rather than square the ball, and his effort from the edge of the area took a deflection off Collins. Villa were grateful to be spared.

Premier League 2011-12Aston VillaLiverpoolPremier LeagueStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk