Mixed fortunes for the English sides in the Champions League but Wenger and Ancelotti won’t mind one iota, as their passage to the knockout stages has been assured. Elsewhere Alan Pardew can seemingly expect a frosty reception should he take the reins at St James, while an Aston Villa director reportedly claimed that supporters were right to rage at Gerard Houllier.
In the papers this morning Jermain Defoe claims that his goals in midweek will kick-start his season; Carlos Tevez claims that City success will wind up Fergie, while Steven Gerrard will be given extra time to work on his fitness.
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Blatter attacks English ‘arrogance’ – Guardian
Pienaar coy on Everton future – Sky Sports
Pardew faces hate backlash – Sun
Fans right to rage at Houllier – director – Guardian
Defoe: My season has just started – Sun
Gerrard given extra time to prove fitness ahead of potential Reds return – Daily Mail
Manchester United inquire about Valencia keeper Vicente Guaita – IM Scouting
City success will wind up Fergie – Sun
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Ferguson calls for end to sick chants – Guardian
Marseille optimistic over beating Liverpool in hunt for Fanni – IM Scouting
As the year draws to end I would like to reflect on the last 12 months from a fan as well as club point of view.
There have been many highs and lows but that’s all part and parcel of being a football and Manchester United fan but in drafting up the list, it is clear to see this year has been one to test the blood pressure.
Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments.
Click on the Theatre of Dreams below to see its most significant moments of the last 12 months
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Read more Manchester United blogs at ‘The Busby Way’
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Holy Crap – it’s live fantasy football! Become part of Chelsea v Aston Villa and play Picklive for FREE Watch and bet live – spices up any game!
Blackburn Rovers will not make any big-name signings until the European summer, according to manager Steve Kean.
Kean can now look to the long-term with Blackburn after signing a new two-and-a-half year deal ahead of Sunday’s game with West Brom.
When asked about speculation linking Blackburn with a move for Boca Juniors playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme, he said: “Riquelme has been on a list with a few others but I don’t think that will happen in this window. When we went in for David Beckham and Ronaldinho it was very real.”
“I was out in India with the owners on Monday and I think if we do bring somebody in, a landmark signing, it will probably be in the summer. We’ve got time to see whether they’re going to fit in.”
Kean confirmed Pascal Chimbonda’s contract has been terminated to allow him to play first-team football elsewhere, while El-Hadji Diouf has attracted interest from several clubs.
“He (Diouf) has 18 months left on his contract and is happy to get his head down and fight for his place. It’s not the case that we’re trying to force him out but there has been interest. We’d consider any fee but we don’t have to sell.”
West Brom will bring a special brand of passing football to Ewood Park on Sunday according to Kean.
“They are a very good passing team who are open and I don’t think they change from their philosophy that they want to build from the back. They’re a tough team to play against and it’s going to be a really tough game on Sunday.”
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New signings Roque Santa Cruz and Jermaine Jones are both in line to make their debuts while Steven N’Zonzi and Vince Grella both came through a midweek practice match.
David Dunn is fit after limping off in the recent defeat to Chelsea but Ryan Nelson will face a late fitness test after taking a knock to the knee.
It’s been a pretty good week for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. After a Robin van Persie hat-trick helped to dispose of Wigan at the weekend, leaving the Gunners second in the Premier League table, they defeated Ipswich in the Carling Cup semi-final to keep them battling on four fronts this season. The second leg at The Emirates in midweek wasn’t as straight forward as it might have been and Arsenal had to wait until the second half until they finally broke the deadlock and overpowered the Tractor Boys. One Arsenal player who was forced to leave the field before that, being replaced by Emmanuel Eboue, was Bacary Sagna. The Frenchman suffered concussion after colliding with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and Wenger later revealed his was sick after the match. Here is Sagna looking a little bit out of it, but what are the Arsenal physios saying to him?
Leave your suggestions below…
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This week you can win a copy of Premiership Psycho!
Kev King has the world at his feet. His is the world of top flight football: where brands are all, lifestyle is god, adoration is obligatory and there is nothing – and no one – that money can’t buy. And up until last season, Kev had the Premier League status to match his premier lifestyle.
Now, relegated to a lowly league, forced to watch injured from the bench, and paranoid about his girlfriend’s rising celebrity profile, he feels less in control of his life. And it’s making him angry. Fighting his way back to the top, he leaves a trail of destruction. But can his millions and his talent keep him at the top of his game – or are his violent secrets about to rob him of everything he has?
C.M. Taylor’s “Premiership Psycho” is a compelling, hilarious and horrible insight into celebrity culture and a brilliant fictional portrayal of contemporary football.
For the FootballFanCast.com Caption Competition Terms and Conditions click here
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Check out our Caption Competition Gallery for some inspiration and to see the winners so far.
Last week’s winner: Kenny – click here to see all entries
The Manchester derby is the pick of what promises to be an action packed weekend of Premier League football at both ends of the table. Victory for Manchester United will undoubtedly knock City out of the title race; however defeat will open up the doors again and make it the most open title pursuit in years.
In the papers this morning there has been a mixed bag of stories that includes Tottenham considering legal action over Olympic snub; FA to ban AWOL players, while Manchester United rubbish sale rumours.
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Tottenham consider legal action over Olympic Stadium snub – Guardian
Charlton on the Sheikh – Daily Telegraph
We have the technology, we can rebuild him, that’s why Carroll is our… £35m MAN – Daily Mail
Torres failed to show respect, says Agger – Guardian
FA to ban AWOL England players – Sun
Wilshere holds key to Capello’s dream team – Daily Telegraph
Man United rubbish rumours of £1.6bn sale – Mirror
Parker keen to grasp every opportunity – Guardian
Hammers hit by Keane KO blow – Sun
Liverpool ramp up Eriksen pursuit by sending Lee to watch Ajax star – Daily Mail
Young eyes club-and-country partnership with Bent – Mirror
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Last week was the best week in the Champions League that I can remember for a long time, particularly as a follower of the Premier League. Tottenham Hotspur put in a highly accomplished performance against AC Milan in the daunting arena that is the San Siro, and then their north London neighbours Arsenal showed an ability to tough it out and overcome arguably the best team in the world in Barcelona, in the first leg at least. But then with all the optimism surrounding the European competition from an English perspective, news emerges that almost defies belief.
Saturday May 28th is the standout European fixture on this year’s football calendar. It’s the date of the Champions League final and should be a great day for English football, what with the match being played at the home of English football – Wembley; and four Premier League teams in Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea all with a realistic chance of being part of the grand occasion. However, while an English club or maybe even two could reach the final, most of us football fans have no realistic chance of going.
Obviously not everyone can go to the Champions League final, but many of those considering applying for tickets will have been put off by the ridiculous prices quoted. The cheapest tickets on general sale will cost £150, with that figure being almost halved for fans of one of the team’s in the final to £80. It that wasn’t bad enough, a further kick in the teeth is the administration fee per pair of tickets, which is a whopping £26. Yep that’s right, £13 per person for admin, which I’m guessing amounts to a couple of minutes filling in details on a computer and then posting the tickets to you – that’s one expensive envelope!
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There has been outrage and widespread disbelief in the media surrounding the price of the tickets, and Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has expressed his thoughts. I’m not Fergie’s biggest fan, what with his boycott of the BBC; more someone highly respectful of his achievements in English football, but for once the Scot is right on the money. Fergie said “It’s a killer and a corporate deal. Managers and players can’t do anything about it. I don’t know what you can do.” They could always use a portion of their wages to compensate and bring the prices of tickets down, but that’s another matter.
Now I’m not detached from the capitalist world in which we live and I understand the ticket prices are driven by demand. In fact they could possibly double the price and the 86,000-capacity Wembley Stadium would still be filled, but that’s not really the point. The issue here is that once again football fans are footing the bill for the support of their team, or the support of football in general in the neutral’s case here. UEFA’s director of competitions, Giorgio Marchetti, might well defend the prices and argue that “we don’t think that the Champions League final is overpriced,” but then he’s not paying for tickets, is he?
Champions League finals of course used to take place on Wednesday nights, but FIFA President Sepp Blatter moved it to a Saturday so that more families could go. But in truth, how many families are going to go with the ticket prices set as they are? Very few I’d bet, and while going to a Champions League final contested by two English teams or indeed won by a Premier League club at Wembley would be a priceless experience, £176 isn’t a price I’m willing to pay. Oh well, looks like I’ll be watching it on the telly then!
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Leyton Orient’s hopes of playing at Wembley this season might have ended in pretty emphatic style at the Emirates on Wednesday night, but while Arsenal move on to a quarter-final meeting with Manchester United in a week’s time there might yet be a way for the Os to reach Old Trafford this season too. The venue for the League One and League Two play-off finals at the end of May has been switched from London to Manchester, and although Orient currently lie eight points behind sixth-placed MK Dons they have lost just twice in the league since November and their extended FA Cup run has left them with games in hand over all their rivals.
As a growing number of people are becoming aware, however, Leyton Orient’s most important battles are likely to be fought off the pitch in the coming months.
Hours before their FA Cup fifth round replay against the Gunners it emerged that, pending the bid’s political approval this week, Orient were planning to sue the various bodies involved in the decision-making process involved in West Ham’s proposal to play their home games at the redesigned Olympic Stadium from the beginning of the 2013/14 season. After what must have been a busy day of letter-writing for Orient’s owner, Barry Hearn, he confirmed that West Ham, the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), City Hall, the government, and the Premier League had all been threatened with legal action.
On Thursday West Ham’s wishes were indeed given the formal backing of the government and the London mayor, Boris Johnson, and so the outrage felt by the Premier League club’s east London neighbours at the Olympic Stadium decision looks set to see the matter settled in court.
The severe reservations that Leyton Orient have about West Ham playing in the Stratford area of the city revolve around the Olympic site being only about a mile from Orient’s Brisbane Road ground and the fact that the Hammers are planning to lower their ticket prices once they move in so as to be able to fill as many of the 60,000 seats as possible. Brisbane Road’s average attendance is less than one tenth that which West Ham will be hoping to attract from 2013, but Orient’s big fear is that their already relatively modest support will dwindle by as much as 30 per cent in the face of such close competition.
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The possible outcome is a bit like that Simpsons episode, “Bart of Darkness,” in which Lisa is enjoying the popularity with her classmates that comes from having a swimming pool in her back garden only for Martin Prince to build a bigger and better one down the road. As her pool empties of friends, the water level falls to the floor. The allegory here, for Leyton Orient, seems simple enough: with fewer fans, the life could drain out of the club.
By raising legal objections to West Ham’s move, Orient will be seeking to take the Premier League to task over the body’s own rules regarding club relocations. In section 6.5 of rule 1, the League purports to oppose any ground move that would have a negative effect on any team already playing in the area.
Perhaps some people might claim that Orient are overreacting, as was claimed in this article on FFC last month, because West Ham’s present Upton Park ground is already fairly near to Brisbane Road and the Premier League outfit will only be a couple of miles closer than they currently are. However, given that the proposal for West Ham to move into the Olympic Stadium was actually a joint bid between the club and Newham council – who will also have access to the stadium and in particular its retained athletics track – and the fact that the £95m it will cost to turn the structure into a permanent football stadium after the Games includes £40m of public money in the form of a loan from the council to West Ham to carry out the work, Orient have a right to be curious as to how and why the decision to back the Hammers’ bid was reached.
The distance involved in West Ham’s move might seem small, but a couple of miles can make a huge difference in a conurbation such as London where there are so many clubs competing for support. References abound at the moment to the casual fans that Orient fear they could lose with West Ham right on their doorstep and, while this might be an uncomfortable reminder that many of the 9,000 fans that Orient took to the Emirates on Wednesday were not Brisbane Road regulars, such fair-weather supporters have the potential to become seasoned followers over time should their affection for the club be allowed to blossom.
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The chances of Orient attracting more fans in the future thanks to a season as successful as this one is shaping up to be will be greatly reduced should those living in their particular east London catchment area take their support (and their money) elsewhere. The club’s fortunes – on and off the pitch – would only suffer.
Geographically speaking, West Ham’s relocation might not be in the league of Wimbledon’s switch to Milton Keynes in 2003, or Arsenal’s move from south to north London in 1913, or even the distance involved had Spurs moved to the Olympic Stadium, but the grounds for lending a side public money in order to fund a new home that they will struggle to fill without an aggressive ticketing strategy – all to the clear detriment of another club – need a lot of explaining.
Australia’s failure to make it past the group stage of the 2010 World Cup has seen them slip to third in the Asian rankings for 2014 qualification.The change in rankings means the Socceroos will likely have a tougher path to the 2014 tournament in Brazil when the groups for the initial qualification stage are announced in July.The rankings differ from the current FIFA rankings, which have Japan on top (17th overall) from Australia (21) and then Korea Republic (32). The path through Asia is exactly the same as it was in 2010 with the top 20 teams grouped into five groups of four. The top two from each group then go through to the final group qualification stage which features two groups of five.Last time Australia were put in a pot which separated them from other top-ranked sides, and were given an initial group featuring Iraq, China and Qatar.This time round, top seed Japan and second seed South Korea, who both made it through to the second round of last year’s World Cup, cannot be in the same group as the Socceroos, nor can fourth-ranked North Korea or fifth-ranked Bahrain. Asia will have 46 countries competing for a spot in the 2014 World Cup. Teams outside the top five have to endure a two-legged knockout stage to determine if they progress to the initial group stage.
Arsene Wenger and Jack Wilshere are on a collision course as the Arsenal youngster is keen to partake in the U21 Euro Championship this summer. Wenger has had his hand burnt before with this tournament before with Theo Walcott and he will be keen that Wilshere will adhere to his hope of turning his back on the U21s for the sake of his club.
In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Ferguson keen to avoid paranoia; Connor Wickham set to earn his Spurs, while Moyes will quit Everton if supporters want him to.
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Fergie keen to avoid paranoia – Sky Sports
Capello sees England as new Germany – Guardian
£100m Bridge bid bites the dust – Sun
Starlet Wickham all set to earn his Spurs – Mirror
Young leads the charge of the contenders – Guardian
Wilshere and Wenger on collision course – Daily Telegraph
Blooper Mario to be fined again – Sun
Moyes will resign if Everton fans want him to – Mirror
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Brazil giant Internacional have sacked coach Celso Roth.”The deterioration in Celso’s relations with the fans was one of the factors that motivated our decision,” Inter vice-president Roberto Siegmann said on Friday.
Inter, who won the Libertadores Cup for the second time last year, are close to being eliminated at the group stage.
Former Inter, AS Roma and Brazil midfielder Paulo Roberto Falcao, who is working at a TV commentator, is favourite to succeed Roth.
Siegmann, Inter’s vice-president for football, however, told the club’s website, www.internacional.com.br, a decision on a replacement for Roth had not been made.
“It’s still not decided. The names being mentioned are mere speculation,” he said.
“We’ve already had contact with some professionals. In any case, I’m working to get the situation resolved as quickly as possible.”
Roth took over from Uruguayan Jorge Fossati ahead of the semi-finals of last season’s competition and won the trophy but failed in December to steer the club into the final of the Club World Cup, a competition they won in 2006.
Roth, 53, was dismissed two days after Inter lost 1-0 away to Chiapas of Mexico playing poorly and putting their qualification in Group Six of the Libertadores Cup in jeopardy.
A draw would have been enough to secure Inter’s place in the last 16. Instead they face a tough home decider against Emelec of Ecuador in Porto Alegre on April 19.
Inter lead the group with 10 points, one more than Chiapas and two ahead of Emelec.
Roth had been living on borrowed time since December when Inter became the first team from the two big soccer continents, South America and Europe, to fail to reach the final of the Club World Cup and its predecessor, the Intercontinental Cup.
More than 10,000 Inter fans made the long trip to the Middle East, where Roth had once worked, expecting to watch their team contest the final against European champions Inter Milan only to see them upset 2-0 by Congolese African champions TP Mazembe in their semi-final.