Stoke manager Tony Pulis believes speculation-hounded Liverpool could not be in better hands.
Pulis’ side travel to Anfield on Wednesday, but all eyes in the build up to the game have been on the possible exit of Liverpool’s record signing Fernando Torres.
Reds manager Kenny Dalglish has been forced to answer mounting speculation about the Spanish player’s future, with the the furore surrounding Torres and the possible arrival of Ajax striker Luis Suarez taking the attention away from Wednesday’s English Premier League game.
But Pulis believes the Merseyside club have the ideal man in charge.
“Kenny has obviously been a great player and has managed a great club and I think the big thing with the Liverpool situation is that it didn’t work out for Roy Hodgson and they needed someone, they needed a talisman and they can’t find anyone better than Kenny Dalglish,” Pulis said.
John Carew made his first start for Stoke in the 1-0 FA Cup win over Wolves on Sunday after joining on loan from Aston Villa and is set to keep his place in the side to face Liverpool.
Tuncay is set to leave the Britannia Stadium, with a possible move to Wolfsburg being discussed, and is unlikely to feature on Wednesday.
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Ricardo Fuller is a Sunderland target and the two clubs are believed to be in discussions about a possible transfer.
Thomas Sorenson was the hero against Wolves with his penalty save in injury time, but he is set to lose his place to first-choice keeper Asmir Begovic for the trip to Anfield.
I’m in shock. When football finally returned to our screens after what seemed like an unbearable gap (2 weeks), I logically expected the pundits that would take this magical journey with us to be knowledgeable, astute, well-spoken fellows, like what they always have been you know? Imagine my surprise then when some of them turned out to be rubbish.
If you collated articles bemoaning the level of football punditry in this country you would have enough material to last you a lifetime. So it’s not surprising that the pundits are getting it in the neck again, especially the BBC.
The BBC didn’t help itself by starting proceedings with an explosive interview between Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney (insert sarcasm hash tag here). To call it banal would be an insult to banality itself. As for the likes of Lawrenson and Hansen, it’s all been covered before, so I’ll just sum it up by sitting here whilst sighing dramatically. Lawrenson has nothing (and I mean nothing) to offer, but the annoying thing about Hansen is that you know he’s capable of more. In fact, I have vague memories of the old Hansen doing this thing called analysis once upon a time. Maybe it was a dream.
Alan Shearer has escaped the wilds of Salford Quays to commentate from the grounds, and seems to have upped his game slightly. This isn’t saying much though, and the comments such as “Lewandowski seems like a good player” continue to flow. The vain hope that he’s done some research on a man who is rather key to his nation’s chances and has won the Bundesliga for the last two seasons was probably showing ridiculous levels of optimism. But do you need to do research? Take Greece for example – punditry school tells you that there little need for knowledge about their squad. Constant references to their poor economic status will do (include as many puns as possible – Greek tragedy, bailed out, indebted to their keeper, you get the idea). As for Shearer’s analysis of Sweden and Ukraine, all he could muster after watching one game is that they won’t bother England (do we ever learn??). Need I even ask if he has checked their qualification campaign, when they scored 31 goals, or looked at the new expansive play they are trying to adopt? They were poor against Ukraine, but useless they are not. Still, he looks happy to be there, so we should be thankful for that. And as for Harry Redknapp – well, don’t get me started.
ITV have fared better, for once. They haven’t cut to adverts during a goal (yet), and the scheduled adverts probably help them as they have less time to fill around the matches. I’ve nothing against watching Joe Hart play head tennis in a swimming pool but I’d want a bit more besides that.
Jamie Carragher’s accent takes time to adjust to, resembling Steven Gerrard on fast forward, but he has plenty to offer as a pundit (plus the odd generalised footballing cliché). The style may upset the Queen’s English brigade, but at least he was willing to make some valid points, and criticise the French team when sat next to Patrick Vieira. As for Patrick, again he was better than some of the previous offerings, though on early showings I’m not sure we’re getting full value out of an astute, educated man.
For the Czech Republic v Greece, we had the unassuming Matt Smith hosting, a man that rarely stands out, but does his job, so is fine by me. The pundits were Roberto Martinez and Gordon Strachan, and they assessed the game well. Martinez is the star of the show for me, giving straight-forward logical analysis, and whilst Gordon Strachan is a man who can irritate me (and most sports journalists) more than anyone, he too had far more to offer than the grey canvas on offer over at the BBC.
Of course ITV’s coverage is always worth watching for the constant possibility that at any moment Roy Keane may “go rogue” and turn into Michael Douglas in Falling Down. Expect a police statement demanding the safe return of Adrian Chiles. As for Keane’s performances – well he is what he is. He never smiles, he seems to have a grudge on life itself, and he is not one for a joke. But at least he has something constructive to say every now and then. The same goes for Gareth Southgate, who neither excels nor bombs, but is worth his place on the team, the “water-carrier” of the ITV squad. And a better bet than Martin Keown, another pundit with little of any substance to impart.
But – there’s still the problem of Adrian Chiles. For a man who professes to love football, and be a season ticket holder to boot, he seems to have very little idea about what to say. He is sadly something of a bumbling idiot at times, always coming out with unfunny quips and stuttering last night to the point that I had to turn over as it was just too excruciating. I don’t like saying it, as he is genial and inoffensive, and I wanted him to be a roaring success when he made the move to ITV. But any man who comes out with the line, “as a child Jakub Blaszczykowski watched his father murder his mother… but he’s bounced back!” is not schooled in how to say things the right way. His “banter” with Patrick Vieira before the England v France match was a low point of the Euro 2012 coverage so far.
Key in all this is the fact that the BBC decided to stay in Salford rather than ship out to Polkraine en masse, as they used to do. It’s not surprising really, as they are criticised for every pound they spend, so counting the pennies makes sense, and in theory it shouldn’t matter where they are as long as they watched the match. But as it turns out, it does matter. The BBC panel seem detached, cold, and rather depressed at times. On the other hand, the ITV panel are stationed on a lovely bespoke wooden platform in the heart of the action, giving the impression of a group of holidaying veterans cutting the breeze. They seem to be having a better time, which is hardly surprising, and it shows. The lighting is top notch too.
As for during the match, the less said the better. Co-commentators are uniformly rubbish in my head. Main commentators aren’t much better, always looking for their Kenneth Wolstenholme moment by quoting Shakespeare or tying Gdansk in with Polish solidarity in some mangled metaphor attempt that will always fail.
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So it’s advantage ITV for me so far. We’re all watching for the football, so the punditry is a sideshow. But like the weather it’s a staple topic of discussion with football fans. But when most of us can’t decide whether a draw against France is good or bad, I can’t see a few minutes of punditry helping us out much over the coming weeks. But the BBC needs to up its game after a poor month of general coverage that included a right royal slating for their Jubilee coverage. The easiest way they can do that though is to ditch the old guard, and it’s too late for that. Let’s hope then that the likes of Hansen can remember why they are being paid large amounts of money to sit in a TV studio, before they drag Lee Dixon and Gary Lineker down with them.
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A late goal from Ryan Shotton has helped Stoke City to a 1-0 win over Hajduk Split in Europa League qualifying on Thursday.The visitors defended bravely in Split before Shotton popped up to score a fortuitous 90th-minute goal and seal passage to the play-off round with a 2-0 aggregate win.
Chances were few and far between in a tepid first half with Stoke simply happy to keep the partisan home crowd at the Poljud Stadium quiet and Hajduk lacking the quality to break them down.
After the interval the match initially followed largely the same pattern with Hajduk trying to dictate the game in the midfield and Stoke content to sit and try and break down the flanks.
As the half wore on, however, Stoke’s defensive line began to drop deeper and deeper and front men Kenwyne Jones and Jonathan Walters were reduced to the role of spectators as Hajduk repeatedly prodded and probed the visitors’ backline.
Time and again, though, the Potters’ committed and organised defending denied Hajduk space in the final third, and the Croatians were reduced to tame efforts from outside the box.
There was no late rally from the home side, and instead Tony Pulis’ side confirmed their place in the next round with a late winner.
Substitute Shotton heading home from Dean Whitehead’s inviting right wing cross, despite the best efforts of Split defender Ljubo Milicevic.
Tottenham whizzkid Giovani Dos Santos has failed to make an impact at White Hart Lane and a possible transfer away looks on the cards.
Birmingham City is the latest team to be looking at the Mexican international who lit up the World cup with several fantastic displays. He was nominated for the young plaer of the tournament award too.
Dos Santos has been tracked by the likes of Napoli, Fiorentina and Real Zaragoza of Spain recently but Birmingham are said to be the frontrunners. Alex McCleish see’s him as the ideal player to add that extra flair to keep hold of his teams’ premier league status for at least another season. With the transfer window just hours away from opening, a bid could well be made for the young starlet.
When he signed from Barcelona in 2008 many people believed he could go on to become a club legend. His reputation as a 19-year old playing regularly for Barcelona proves that he was and still is a terrific player. The 21-year old has struggled with life in the premier league some might say but he’s not been given the chance to express himself but fans have already said: “He’s not good enough.”
In my opinion, ‘Gio’ is a great player and I believe he should have a future at Spurs but he needs a bit of luck and a run of games to prove he has what it takes to tackle the best league in the world.
Whether Birmingham can finalise a deal, I don’t know but maybe a loan spell will benefit both him and Spurs? Will he opt for a move back to Spain or even Italy? And can Giovani Dos Santos re-capture his form and become one of the hottest prospects in world football?
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The Dons were in red hot form before Saturday’s defeat to Walsall where they were simply not good enough.
If we play like that against Huddersfield then we will lose by 2 or 3 goals. However, if we play like we did against Sheffield United then we will win for sure.
Our home form of late hasn’t been the best and stadium:MK has become less of a fortress. The pitch hasn’t helped the way we play and our free flowing football isn’t working as well. The pitch is starting to look a bit better and hopefully we can use this to our advantage on Saturday
Did you know?
MK Dons have scored a record breaking 106 goals this season, with 20 different goal scorers!
I think it’s vital that we get an early goal to settle our nerves. We must put pressure on Huddersfield from the first minute and not let them feel comfortable. I have no doubt that Karl and John will prepare the lads in the best possible way for the two games and I don’t think they need to be fired up as they know a place in the championship is at stake!
Playoff heartache will be fresh in the minds for both teams so I would expect a very open game and a few goals. I’m going to go for a 2-1 win to the Dons! I’d hope we could put clear daylight between us and Huddersfield but it will be tough and would require a performance of real quality which I know we are capable of.
My MK Dons XI v HTAFC
Martin,
Chicksen, MacKenzie, Williams, Lewington
Potter, Gleeson
O’Shea, Ibehre, Bowditch
MacDonald
Karl has stated that Doumbe should play some part in the playoff games but I feel it would be better to bring him in for the away leg where it’ll be more difficult for us. Hopefully MacKenzie is fit to play because his strength in the box is unrivalled by any other centre back we have. We must go for an attacking front four that will interchange constantly so that Huddersfield cannot man mark us and hopefully leaving us with more space to exploit.
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The dons faithful have been treated to a few cracking games at stadium:MK this season the 6–2 v Chesterfield, a few 3-0 wins, a 5-0 thrashing of Oldham and even a 4-3 win against local rivals Wycombe! Dons are capable of running riot and they need to make sure this game will live long in the memories of Dons fans!
With the Dons knowing this will definitely be John Gorman’s last home game, we all (fans included) need to make this a very special occasion for a legend that we have been lucky to have helping us out these last two years. Here’s to a very successful game for the Dons, let’s get the road to Wembley off to the best possible start! Come on you Dons!
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The Daily Mail is reporting that Palermo playmaker Javier Pastore is on the verge of joining Chelsea.
Gugliemlo Micciche, Vice-President at the Italian club, has claimed that the Argentine midfielder is on the verge of moving to Stamford Bridge.
Despite renewed interest from PSG, Micciche claimed that the 22-year-old will be playing in the Premier League next season indicating Chelsea could be his destination.
He said: “We are talking about a great player who, in my opinion, is extraordinary.
“There is no doubt that he should be sold for several reasons. He wants a big club and negotiations are well advanced with a very important team.
“His agent is working well and if someone pays the right amount we are happy to let him go.
“Very likely he will go to Chelsea but I think there are many other clubs of that level looking at the boy.”
Micciche is a huge admirer of Pastore but seems resigned to losing the Serie A clubs midfield lynchpin.
There is speculation that a deal has already been struck and if the player does move to West London it will be a huge boost to Blues boss Andre-Villas Boas.
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He is looking to add young, vibrant players to his ageing squad and Pastore would provide an attacking threat from midfield that was lost due to Frank Lampard’s injury lay-off
To get half way through a season unbeaten is a fantastic achievement, but could Manchester United really go a whole season unbeaten. Manchester United haven’t been on top form this season, and this record has slipped through the net – mainly because to most fans the draws at home to West Brom and away to Everton and Fulham felt like defeats. Arsenal’s achievement was something to admire, and there is nothing wrong with aspiring to that level of superiority. Could this Manchester United side go the whole season unbeaten?
Andy Gray, and his friends at Sky Sports maintain that Manchester United have only gone the first half of the season unbeaten because they haven’t played the top teams. That is not only ridiculous, but completely untrue. Manchester United have played everyone in the top half apart from Chelsea. They have gone away to Everton and Fulham, two places where Manchester United lost last season, and have hosted Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham. Maybe the strength of the league should be called into question not who Manchester United have or haven’t played.
As I was discussing earlier, Manchester United’s achievements have gone under the radar somewhat because of the way the team threw games away at the start of the season. As well as this Manchester United haven’t been the best team this season, the most consistent maybe, but not the best. As teams become more aware of this unbeaten record – which actually stretches back to when Manchester United lost to Chelsea in April, they will become a target. Everyone wants to beat Manchester United, but everyone will want to end the record – its natural. Do Manchester United have the characters of Patrick Viera, Thierry Henry and Sol Campbell to maintain the standards, to stop the squad closing in on itself as they get closer and closer to any record.
Manchester United themselves are not getting carried away with what could happen. New boy, Chris Smalling, recently spoke to The Sun about the new invincible tag.
”I am not sure we will ever see a team go through a whole season unbeaten again.”
“So many sides are losing matches unexpectedly now you would have to applaud any team who did do it.
“For us at the moment, it is just about continuing the momentum.”
It is good to hear that the Manchester United players have their feet on the ground, and are taking the achievement for what it is. United haven’t won anything yet and haven’t achieved any records. The best thing they can do is continue to push clear in the fight for the Premier League crown.
This Manchester United team is not as good as the Arsenal squad that went a whole season unbeaten, but that doesn’t mean they can’t emulate them. On the flip side, Manchester United will scare Premier League sides the longer they go unbeaten. As they continue, the players will start to believe they are unbeatable and the confidence will flow. Manchester United can only get better this season. They have remained unbeaten playing average, imagine what they could do when Wayne Rooney hits form and Antonio Valencia returns.
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In every season there are turning points. For Arsenal’s unbeaten season it was Robert Pires’ dive at Highbury against Portsmouth. Had a penalty not been given that day, the record may never have existed. For Manchester United could it be the come back against Aston Villa. Seasons and records hinge on these defining moments.
Manchester United may not have the quality of the Arsenal invincible team but they do have the spirit and character to get close to them. However, the difference between the two teams is Manchester United are unbeaten where as Arsenal looked unbeatable.
A letter from Blackburn deputy chief executive Paul Hunt to Rovers co-owner Anuradha Desai has been leaked, which urges the Indian owners to sack under-fire manager Steve Kean.
The letter, dated December 2011, stresses that the Scot is not the man to take the Lancashire club forward, which may well have been proved right since Blackburn’s relegation.
“I write now to ask you to make significant changes to save the club, perhaps from relegation and perhaps from administration,” the letter reads, according to The Daily Mail.
“With the bank closing in, I fear that they will look to foreclose and have the potential to implement financial restrictions upon the club that could as a worst-case scenario enforce administration. Publicly I have been asked to support the manager and I always have as I personally like Steve.
“I have supported him from the start and have been desperate for him to do well. However, I am now of the opinion that it isn’t working and he is ready to go.
“He has lost the crowd and as a result of this evening’s game against Bolton has lost the dressing room as well – the players no longer want to play for him.
“It is a shame and disappointing but we must act now to save the club. The board should be asked their opinion on who should be the new manager,” he concluded.
Kean has stated that he will not resign from the club, despite demotion to The Championship.
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The last week saw another example of fan revolt, as the seemingly ridiculous rumour that Alex McLeish was to become the new Aston Villa manager actually came to fruition. Without knowing every single Aston Villa fan, it felt like they were all disgusted by the move.
A demonstration at the ground ensued, fans expressed their disgust on message boards, TV screens and with threats of non-attendance in the future. Nevertheless, Randy Lerner ignored the swell of opinion and made the appointment. Was he right to do so?
In theory, yes. Clubs are sadly businesses (not all would agree, as will be mentioned later), and like it or loathe it, those who sit on the board make the decisions, for better or worse. Clubs can’t be making player and managerial decisions on the whim of fans, as the fans can barely agree on anything anyway. It took some Manchester City fans two years to work out Nigel De Jong was a great footballer. There will never be a consensus on how good/bad Mark Hughes was, or even how good/bad Roberto Mancini is now. How can such a group make such important decisions? But fans are the lifeblood of a club, and when their opinion forms such a broad consensus as the Villa fans displayed last week, then perhaps they should be listened to. On the whole however decision-making must be in the hands of a few, as the bigger the number becomes, the harder it is to agree on anything. The world of politics proves that.
Fans’ power over player acquisitions should certainly be non-existent. In England, the almost unanimous system is one whereby the manager alone decides which players to buy (supported by his staff, especially scouts). Abroad, directors of football take up that role and the manager is more of a coach. Whichever system you may think is best, there can be no other way. Fans influencing buys is almost as bad as the owner deciding. It would only end in tears. Especially when the tears are crocodile tears because this particular player once had the nerve to play for THEM.
Of course for many clubs, fans already have a say directly in the way clubs are run, and this is a more logical route to follow. This involvement was brought home by the loss recently of funding to the Supporters Direct organisation by an offshoot of the Premier League, after some fruity tweets from its Chief Executive Dave Boyle led to his resignation and an excuse for funding to be withdrawn.
The examples of fan involvement in clubs are there domestically, though more widespread abroad. Supporters’ trusts sprung up after the 2002 collapse of ITV Digital, but while their intentions are always noble, they often struggled for success against teams with wealthy owners. And supporter-led ownership does not of course guarantee the best decisions or an imprint for success. Notts County’s supporters’ trust voted overwhelmingly in July 2009 to give away its majority stake to the Qadbak investment fund – not the best decision in hindsight. Stockport County, supporter-owned since 2005, went into administration in April 2009 and have finally fallen out of the Football League. Chesterfield and York City were also previously owned by supporters’ trusts, which saved their clubs from extinction in hideous crises, but then found they couldn’t take the club forward, and thus relinquished control.
A different approach can be found at myfootballclub.co.uk, where Ebsfleet United of the Bluesquare League are owned by the fans, as explained on the site:
Ebbsfleet United is owned by thousands of members, who each contribute small amounts annually, and vote on key management decisions like the budget, transfer deals, kit supplier contracts, kit design, election of Club officials, and even approve the Manager’s contract!
Abroad, supporters matter more. Barcelona and Real Madrid (amongst others) are fan-led in Spain. In the Bundesliga, most clubs are more than 50% owned by fans. Many a director would no doubt love to change this scenarion, with only 2 German teams owned by companies, but the fans’ power in maintaining this system has been impressive.
Back at home, Supporters Direct itself has also worked with supporters of the biggest clubs to form trusts either campaigning against damaging ownership or seeking a more active role.
And the aforementioned Dave Boyle would disagree about my earlier assertion that football clubs are businesses. He once said. “We believe very firmly that football clubs are community, sporting institutions, not private businesses.”
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The thought of clubs being run by supporters is also something Uefa back strongly, as they see it as the ideal model for football clubs, and they funded Supporters Direct to extend its work to fans in other countries. This is not surprising when we consider that UEFA believe that fan-led clubs will help achieve the objective of financial fair play, where clubs do not make repeated losses every year. And anything that Uefa believe promotes their idea of financial fair play was always going to be popular. They have a point though. Whilst wealthy owners will bring a greater chance of success, and bigger and bolder buys, a club run by its members is mor elikely to be managed within its means.
AFC Wimbledon are proof of the power of fans. So too are Exeter City, rejuvenated by their own fans, and Swansea City, dying on its feet a decade ago. Swansea are still 20% owned by the supporters trust, which has an elected representative on the board. Fans are the biggest constituent of a football club, and should of course be involved in its operation, direction, and whole ethos. But the only way to do that successfully sometimes is with direct involvement. All fans are entitled to their opinion and to demonstrate when they feel aggrieved, we are not robots or clones designed to turn up and accept whatever is served up in front of us, but it seems the route to greater success by fans can only be achieved by getting right inside the corridors of power. When Aston Villa fans allegedly caused Randy Lerner to abandon the idea of appointing Steve McClaren, they ended up with a far more unpopular choice. Most fans are simply hostages to their clubs’ fortunes, and you just have to hope for the best.
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This weekend may well have heralded the awakening of a sleeping footballing colossus who has lain dormant, stumbling with its eyes half closed for much of the season so far, only to open its eyes to realise it is top of the table and right in form. I am of course talking about 11 time Premier League winners, Manchester United. But I am not exclusively talking about their 7-1 demolition of Blackburn at Old Trafford.
It was of course, excellent to seal such an emphatic win in front of their home fans, and see two strikers come back into a bit of form, with Dimitar Berbatov hitting 5, and Wayne Rooney regaining at least some of his touch. But away from Old Trafford things were also looking up for the Red Devils, as two of their players put in stellar performances for their respective loan sides, once again.
Danny Welbeck found the back of the net once more for Sunderland, albeit in a galling 3-2 defeat for the Black Cats at Wolves, taking his tally to 4 goals in his last 3 games. Tom Cleverley also impressed in a 3-1 defeat for Wigan against West Ham, and given his performance was unlucky to come out on the losing side, especially after he grabbed a late conciliation goal as well as earning a penalty earlier in the game which Mauro Boselli squandered.
Welbeck and Cleverley, 20 and 21 respectively, are bright young prospects and are proving that they can compete at the highest level, and this can be nothing but good news for Manchester United, because either way, these young stars will save them money.
Having brought both of them through their famed youth academies, it is now other clubs who are giving them their invaluable Premier League educations, and whether Manchester United decided to utilise their undoubted talents is irrelevant for the clubs finances. The Old Trafford club will either use them, thus meaning that they will not have to spend vast amounts of money on new players, or, given their impressive form, they can sell them on for what would be, for Welbeck especially, a tidy sum of money.
So while this weekend ushered in a dominant Manchester United performance at Old Trafford, away from Manchester, the club’s future is also showing signs of great promise.
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