Archive for February, 2012
Jose Mourinho loves all the attention – but why leave Real Madrid to take a job in London when he wants to succeed Sir Alex?
It is fascinating that Jose Mourinho has sent the media and allegedly several football clubs into a spin by posing for photographs in London.
Speculation that the self-appointed ‘Special One’ has been house hunting in the Capital has triggered immediate speculation that Mourinho is heading back to the Premier League in the summer.
With Andre Villas-Boas struggling to win over his critics and Chelsea in dangers of failing to qualify for the Champions League, Blues fans are praying he is heading for a return to the Bridge.
Mourinho in London - but Madrid to Manchester is move he really wants
Over in North London Spurs fans would love to see Mourinho take charge if Harry Redknapp gets the England job. Arsenal may also like to keep their options after seven seasons without a trophy for Arsene Wenger. And if the FA fail to appoint an Englishman as manager Mourinho would definitely be on the shortlist.
But there are two big reasons why Mourinho may just be making mischief. Firstly, the prospect of reigning in Spain with Real Madrid and knocking Barcelona off their perch is surely a bigger deal than any of the aforementioned London-based jobs. And secondly, the Portuguese maverick has made it clear he wants to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United – and that almost certainly means hanging around for another two or three seasons.
The media circus has already started with the Daily Mirror splashing the ‘world exclusive’ headline “Back for Mour?” and I for one expect this is a story that won’t go away any time soon. My gut feeling is that Mourinho will stay in Madrid for another couple of seasons.
Imagine the media frenzy Jose would create if he eventually strolls into Old Trafford – and brings Cristiano Ronaldo home with him!
Why Cristiano Ronaldo would love to return to Manchester United
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Gary Speed Memorial Match: why the world gently weeps
Everyone who has ever loved the game of football – and many people the world over who have never even watched the game – will shed a tear on Wednesday night when the Gary Speed Memorial Match pays tribute to a much loved footballing hero.
Three months have passed since the tragic loss of Gary Speed, and whether or not he intended to take his own life which we will never know for sure, the love for the proud Welsh manager and ex-player who graced the beautiful game at so many clubs is universal. He was one of the most popular players of his generation and appeared to have such a perfect life with so much to look forward to. The shocking news of his death when he was found hanging at his Cheshire home was simply incomprehensible.
Gary Speed universally loved by football fans
It will forever be hard to accept such a loss at the age of 42 and it is easy to understand why Chris Coleman is still struggling to come to terms with the death of his old pal as he prepares for the first Wales match since becoming national team boss. Craig Bellamy will be the Welsh skipper.
Coleman plans to speak briefly to the players before the match – between Wales and Costa Rica – and then let Osian Roberts, a member of Speed’s coaching staff who is staying on under the new regime, take charge.
‘I’ll address [the squad] but it won’t be about me and where I want to take them. We’re only going to talk about Gary. We’ll probably watch a bit of footage of Speeds. And all I’ll be saying to them is: “You’re going to find it tough. We’re all here for you, the players, for this game. You and us are all here for Gary.”‘ Coleman told the Guardian
‘This is for Gary Speed. It’s not my first game. I just couldn’t do it. It’s for Gary and his family. And that’s all it’s about. I know people have said to me: ‘Well, Chris, you haven’t got many games to prepare for Belgium [in the first World Cup qualifier, in September].’ I say: “Listen, football, compared to how important this is … football is in the background.”‘
Gary made his international debut for Wales against Costa Rica at Ninian Park in Cardiff in May 1990 when Wales won by a goal to nil.
Stereophonics frontman, Kelly Jones, recorded a cover version of Andy Williams’ classic Welsh anthem “Too Good To Be True” in memory of the former Leeds United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Bolton Wanderers and Everton player. The song became an adopted anthem of Welsh football fans during Speed’s playing career with Wales after being used in a BBC Wales promo for the 1994 World Cup qualifying campaign. Speed, who was found dead at his home on 27 November 2011, was an integral part of the Wales squad that came so close to qualifying for the World Cup finals in the United States.
Gary Speed’s final public appearance on BBC Football Focus
Why the next England manager should get down on his knees and beg Paul Scholes to play at Euro 2012
Whatever Fabio Capello achieved in club football, for me he will always go down as a bad manager of England for one simple reasonabove all others – he failed and lacked the vision to persuade Paul Scholes to come out of retirement.
Whoever gets the job of taking England to Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine must head straight to Manchester to beg the ginger-haired midfield genius to come out of international retirement for the summer. Not only that, they must promise to build their team around him for the tournament because he is that good, even at the age of 37.
How many times have we tried to win international tournaments by playing an uncultured game that is fast, furious and doomed to failure. In Scholes England possess a pass master who would be reverred and treasured as a must for the national team if he was Spanish.
The beauty of international football is that to be successful does not require playing at the pace we see in the Premier League. World and European champions Spain showed that style not speed is the winning formula and that means passing the ball and keeping possession. Scholes is the only Englishman with the footballing brain and the passing-precision to turn our national team into something special.
Whether or not he gets the job to succeed the Italian, the people’s choice Harry Reknapp has already made his feelings clear on the subject when he said: “Let’s be honest, you would love to have Paul Scholes in the Euros this year. He’d be in your team, he’s that good. Whoever’s there would love to take him, I’m sure. You’d love him to play. He plays like the Spaniards, like Xavi [Hernandez] or [Andres] Iniesta. He does not give the ball away.”
Arsenal’s seven year itch increases pressure on Arsene Wenger but he deserves support despite another trophy-less season
The longer Arsenal go without winning a trophy the harder it gets for Arsene Wenger to turn things round and tonight’s FA Cup KO at Sunderland will almost certainly condemn the Gunners to a seventh season without picking up any silverware. But things could be worse – just ask a Rangers fan.
The Glasgow giants are facing the possibility of liquidation because they are a football club who have spent wildly beyond their means. And that is what many football supporters fail to recognise when they constantly urge their club to splash the cash.
Arsenal fans may blame Wenger for refusing to risk the club’s future by spending big in the transfer market. But the reality is the Gunners lack the financial muscle to compete for the best players available and that is the real problem holding the club back.
Huddersfield Town chairman has brought football into disrepute by sacking successful manager Lee Clark
It has often been said that many football club owners don’t know what they’re doing – but the decision by Huddersfield Town chairman Dean Hoyle to sack manager Lee Clark really does take the biscuit.
For Clark and his coaching staff to be given the boot after losing just three times in 55 League matches is pure madness. His final match in charge – Tuesday’s 1-0 home defeat by Sheffield United – still left Town in fourth placed and well placed to make amends for last season’s Play-Off Final by Peterbrough.
In my book Hoyle should face a charge of bringing the game into disrepute. At the very least he will have to defend a claim of unfair dismissal after bizarely axing Clark who earlier this season presided over Town’s completion of a 43 match unbeaten run, a Football League record.
“I am very perplexed as to why I was dismissed as manager of Huddersfield,” said Clark in a statement issued by the League Managers’ Association. “I’m extremely disappointed and shocked considering we’re in a great position to compete for automatic promotion.”
Sacked: Lee Clark lost only three times in 55 matches as manager of Huddersfield Town
Rangers’ financial meltdown is a warning to clubs on both sides of the border
The demise of Rangers Football Club s bad news for the whole of the Scottish Premier League and could signal a change of attitude among fans and owners everywhere in the never ending spiral of spending increasingly obscene amounts of money on players wages and transfer fees.
With the Ibrox club opting for administration and taking a route that could end up with liquidation, the tough stand taken by the HM Revenue and Customs is a warning to all clubs on both sides of the border that football is not immune to the financial crisis that is affecting just about every country in the world.
Administrators Paul Clark and David Whitehouse hope to make an announcement on the financial restructuring of Rangers in the next 24 hours. They took over the running of the club on Tuesday, after a dramatic attempt by HM Revenue and Customs to get a court-appointed insolvency expert in at Ibrox in their pursuit of £9m in unpaid tax.
The problem is the administrators need to reach agreement with 75% of the creditors by value if they are to succeed in reaching a creditors voluntary agreement to bring Rangers out of administration. And that means they will need the support of HMRC if they are going to get a CVA.
It’s been a dramatic fall of grace by Rangers who looked to have such a bright future when they won the first of three successive SPL titles in 2009 . . .
Luis Suarez deserves Fergie’s criticism for refusing to shake Patrice Evra’s hand and continuing to fuel his image of being a racist
Luis Suarez did nothing but bring shame on himself and Liverpool Football Club with his petulant display in the Merseysiders’ 2-1 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Not content with brushing away Patrice Evra’s attempt to shake his hand in the pre-match formalities, the Uruguayan spat venom throughout his first start since his eight-match ban for racially abusing the United skipper in the reverse fixture last October.
The hostility boiled over at half-time when Police and stewards had to shepherd the players into their dressing rooms at halftime. Evra, who kept his dignity throughout the crunch Premier League showdown, could not hide his pleasure at the final whistle when he jumped for joy in front of the Stretford End and celebrated United’s win that takes them top of the League.
Patrice Evra celebrates in front of the Stretford End in front of Luis Suarez
Suarez, whose late consolation goal was Liverpool’s only reply to a glorious double from Wayne Rooney, at least had the good sense not to react as his team-mates ridiculously did when Evra’s post-match celebrations continued in front of him as he headed for the tunnel.
But it is hard to disagree with Sir Alex Ferguson’s assessment when he launched a scathing assessment of Suarez for his refusal to shake hands with Evra.
Insisting the Uruguayan should never play for Liverpool again, Fergie told Sky Sports: “I couldn’t believe, I just could not believe it. Patrice told me this morning, ‘I’m going to shake his hand, I’ve nothing to be ashamed of.’ But then Suarez refuses. He’s a disgrace to Liverpool Football Club.
“Some players should not be allowed to play for Liverpool again, the history that club’s got, and he does that. In a situation like today he could have caused a riot.”
Suarez walk away after refusing to shake Evra's hand
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CLASSIC GOALS from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham
Hats off to FA for forcing out Fabio Capello – now hire Harry Redknapp and maybe England will have a chance at Euro 2012
You can dress it up any which way you want but Fabio Capello has quit as England manager hours after saying he would not walk away from the job – and that can only mean the Italian resigned before he got the boot.
Congratulations are in order to the Football Association and their chairman David Bernstein for getting tough and all they need to do now, as I’ve been urging them for more than a year is to appoint Harry Redknapp.
There is no coincidence that the announcement came hours after the Spurs boss was dramatically cleared of tax evasion by a jury that delivered a unanimous verdict. Everyone knew that the Inland Revenue were wasting millions of pounds of public money with their ridiculous case against Harry and his ex-Portsounth boss Milan Mandaric.
It’s been a truly remarkable day – but no more than I predicted in my blog on Monday urging the FA to sack Capello and hire Harry as soon as he is cleared by the courts.
Redknapp has yet to be offered the job. But this time the FA will not get away with failing to appoint the people’s choice, as they did all those years ago when they failed to make outspoken genius Brian Clough the manager of England.
Never have I welcomed an FA statement more than this evening’s that read: “The Football Association can confirm that Fabio Capello has today resigned as England manager.”
The statement went on: “This follows a meeting involving FA chairman David Bernstein, FA general secretary Alex Horne and Fabio Capello at Wembley Stadium. The discussions focused on the FA board’s decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry, and Fabio Capello’s response through an Italian broadcast interview.
“In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio’s resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England manager with immediate effect.”
Bernstein said the resignation was the right course of action and you can take that as all the confirmation you need that this was what the FA wanted.
There is no doubt that Redknapp will accept an FA offer to accept the England job – the only question will be whether or not he attempts to juggle the role with completing the season as Spurs manager.
SACK CAPELLO, HIRE HARRY AND RE-CALL PAUL SCHOLES
Sack Fabio Capello – and appoint English-born manager to ditch John Terry and re-call Paul Scholes: FA’s chance to unite nation
The men in suits forever ridiculed by critics as the ‘jokers’ who run the game but ‘don’t know what they’re doing’ have a unique opportunity to make all the doubters eat their words.
There is a lot of absolute rubbish being written and said by so-called experts who have defended Fabio Capello’s ill-advised decision to take on the Football Association over their decision to strip John Terry of the captains armband.
The reality is the FA’s only mistake was not taking this action months ago when the crown prosecution charged Terry with racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.
Forget innocent until proven guilty. That is irrelevant. Terry will get the chance to clear his name in July. But it is inconceivable that England can go into a major tournament led by a skipper charged with being a racist.
Not only to protect England, but – whether he likes it or not -this is in the best interests of Terry. Can you imagine the controversy that would have engulfed England at Euro 2012 with Terry facing the world’s media and constantly being reminded about his racism charge.
The FA have been world leaders in their campaign to kick racism out of football. But the possibility that their skipper could become a convicted racist within days of the tournament ending would have made England a laughing stock.
Fabio Capello told Italian TV: “I completely disagree with the FA about the John Terry decision. I have told that to the chairman.”
In any other walk of life anyone in Terry’s position would be suspended and removed from the firing line until after their court case.
For Capello to gamble his career by taking on his employers and so publicly supporting Terry is a shockingly poor decision for so many reasons. It is such a bad call one suspects the Italian secretly wants to be fired so he can walk away from an England job he has never mastered.
The reality is that Capello has made his position as manager untenable. Not just by challenging the FA’s authority but by inexcusably creating problems in the England dressing room
By making it public knowledge that his captain will no longer be his first choice undermines what already appears to be a fragile relationship with his players – who already know he is walking away when his contract expires in the summer.
By quickly ruling himself out of being re-instated as captain, Rio Ferdinand confirmed his lack of respect for Capello. And I am absolutely certain he is not the only one doubting the Italian’s ability to learn from his mistakes during and since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Imagine how the atmosphere would change if the FA have the balls to sack Capello and give the fans what they really want . . . an English-born manager.
Imagine if that man was Harry Redknapp after he successfully defends his Court case and kicks into touch those charges of alleged tax evasion.
And imagine if the new English manager leaves Terry out of his Euro 2012 squad altogether and successfully persuades this nation’s best midfielder Paul Scholes to make a sensational comeback.
There is no doubt in my mind Scholes will accept the challenge if he his given the respect he deserves and gets the call from a manager who wants his team to play a passing game.
The ginger haired genius has already publicly stated he wishes he had played at the last World Cup and Scholes is universally recognised as the best England player of his generation.
There is also no doubt that Redknapp will come to England’s rescue if he gets the call. But even if that is not possible there are several other Englishmen who could do better than Capello.
My message to FA chairman David Bernstein is simple. Step up and become the leader the English game needs by giving Capello the boot, ditch Terry altogether and appoint an English manager who will build his Euro 2012 team around Scholes.
TIME FOR TERRY TO GET THE BOOT & LINK TO ALLEGED RACIST VIDEO RANT AT FERDINAND
Fortune favours the bold as Manchester United’s comeback kings peg back Chelsea and win a new legion of fans on planet football
In the great history of Manchester United comebacks the fightback from 3-nil down against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was right up there with the best of them.
A penalty double from man-of-the-match Wayne Rooney and a point saving header from sub Javier Hernandez served up by the ageless Ryan Giggs crowned this latest escape by the comeback kings.
So irresistible was United’s recovery to finish all-square at 3-3, I would not be surprised if the Red Devils picked up another million followers around the world, such is the remarkable global reach of the Premier League.
While that parochial affair the Super Bowl gets excited about attracting a TV audience of over 100 million once a year, Premier League games are viewed in 643 million homes around the planet.
Officially the world’s No.1 league with an annual audience of 4.7 billion, it is matches like this epic showdown between the two teams who between them have won the Premier League for the last seven seasons that makes it top of the TV viewing figures.
Without England trio John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole, the Blues – fortunate to lead 1-0 at half-time courtesy of a Jonny Evans own goal – thought they had the match won when took a 3-0 lead. A stunning Juan Mata volley 24 seconds after the re-start and a David Luiz header deflected home by Rio Ferdinand left United with a mountain to climb.
But the champions bravely rolled the dice when Sir Alex Ferguson sent on subs Hernandez and Paul Scholes and went for broke risking a repeat of that 6-1 thumping by title rivals City. This time the gamble paid off and fortune favoured the bold as United survived a wasted opportunity by Fernando Torres.
Denied two strong penalty appeals in the first half, United got what they deserved when Howard Webb twice pointed to the spot and Rooney planted both spot kicks past Petr Cech. When Hernandez headed the equaliser six minutes from time United sensed a winner but in the end were thankful for a superb fingertip save by David de Gea from Mata.
“That game today epitomises what English football is about,” said Ferguson, who typically was disappointed to see his side drop two points in the chase of League leaders Manchester City.
