Aston Villa are reportedly weighing up a £7million move for Heerenveen striker Bas Dost.
The Netherlands under-21 international is the top goalscorer in the Eredivisie this season, and has also been linked with a move to Valencia this summer.
Dost is 6ft 5in, and after scoring 23 goals in the league this season has been described as the ‘Dutch Peter Crouch’.
The attacker has admitted that he has heard of interest from Alex McLeish’s side, but will not discuss his future until the campaign ends.
“It is positive news,” he told Voetbal Primeur, translated to English by Sky Sports.
“You hear this and of course it is nice to know they are interested.
“Aston Villa is a club I don’t know very well, but they look good.
“I have spoken with my agent and we won’t be discussing anything during the season,” he concluded.
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Villa have already raided Dutch football for one summer signing, as AZ Alkmaar midfielder Brett Holman has signed a pre-contract agreement with the Midlands outfit.
One of the most important days of the footballing calendar is nearly upon us – the first Merseyside Derby of the season. As the 217th recorded Merseyside Derby takes place at Anfield tonight, let’s remind ourselves about all that makes a Derby day special with a look back on the Top 10 Merseyside Derbies of all-time. There’s blood, sweat and with it, the obligatory tears to boot. Let’s take a look.
1. Liverpool 4 Everton 4 (Anfield) – FA Cup Fifth-Round, 1991 – Quite rightly regarded as the best Merseyside Derby of all-time and memorable for the fact that it was Kenny Dalglish’s final game in charge of his first spell at the club with the Scot resigning the next day. Peter Beardsley drew first blood after Ian Rush dispossessed Kevin Ratcliffe and had his shot saved by Neville Southall, with Beardsley banging in the rebound. Graeme Sharp equalised right after the break before Beardsley bagged a spectacular left-footed effort from 25 yards into the top left-hand corner. A mix-up between Steve Nicol and Bruce Grobelaar saw Sharp equalise once more with a tap in from two yards before Ian Rush saw Liverpool take the lead for the third time in the 77th minute with a deft header from a Jan Molby cross. A hopeful punt up field led to Tony Cottee, on as a sub, bagging Everton’s third to make it 3-3. John Barnes handed Liverpool the lead in extra-time until Cottee once again pegged Liverpool back with a 114th minute equaliser. Everton went onto win the replay 1-0. Simply put, one of the best FA Cup ties of all time and a great advert for the Merseyside derby.
2. Liverpool 3, Everton 2 (Wembley) – FA Cup Final, 1989 – Held just five weeks after the shocking, traumatic and deeply upsetting events of the Hillsborough disaster where 96 fans lost their lives, this game went some way to cathartically healing the wounds for many across Merseyside. On the footballing front, the final didn’t disappoint. John Aldridge gave Liverpool a crucial early lead before Stuart McCall struck back in the 90th minute. In extra-time Liverpool sub Ian Rush put his side ahead once more. Stuart McCall, the unlikeliest of scorers, then struck a sensational second before Rush once again, the scourge of Everton fans everywhere, bagged his second and Liverpool’s third and with it the FA Cup on a very moving day for all connected with either club and the city.
3. Everton 2, Liverpool 3 (Goodison Park) – Premier League, 2001 – Both clubs approached the tie with very different priorities in mind. Liverpool were on the cusp of an infamous treble, Everton under Walter Smith, were trying to stave off relegation for a further season. This has to go down as the finest Derby of the Premier League era, notable for the final kick of the game, a 40-yard free-kick by Gary McAllister that crept into Paul Gerrard’s net – a truly astounding goal. This game had everything. Liverpool surged into a two-goal lead courtesy of Emile Heskey and Markus Babbel before terrace favourites Duncan Ferguson and Dave ‘Rhino’ Unsworth reduced the deficit and levelled the tie. Igor Biscan was sent off, there were 12 cards in total and even an uncharacteristic Robbie Fowler penalty miss to throw into the mix until McAllister stepped up with an unlikely and breathtaking winner. Pulsating.
4. Liverpool 0, Everton 1 (Anfield) – First Division, 1984 – The turning of the tide? Everton announced themselves as the new dominant force in English football with an era defining victory over Liverpool at home. Liverpool were the reigning European Cup champions, but on this display, it was to be Everton that were to go onto bigger things that season. Graeme Sharp’s thunderous volley that later went onto be named Goal of the Season was the difference in the score lines, but the difference in performance was startling. Everton went onto claim the league title, European Cup Winners Cup and narrowly lost out on a momentous treble with a defeat to Man Utd in the FA Cup.
5. Liverpool 3, Everton 1 (Wembley), FA Cup Final, 1986 – The first ever all-Merseyside FA Cup final. A close-run league campaign eventually saw Liverpool edge out their close rivals. At Wembley, Gary Linekar continued his only ever campaign in an Everton shirt in predictably prolific fashion giving Everton the lead. However, perennial thorn in the side Ian Rush struck twice and Craig Johnston added the icing on the cake.
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6. Liverpool 2, Everton 2 (Maine Road), FA Cup Semi-Final, 1977 – What is is about the FA Cup that brings the best out of these Merseyside Derby encounters. Perhaps the most controversial on the list, Liverpool fans the world over will still be left wondering quite how they came away from this game with a draw and a replay. Bryan Hamilton had a goal unfathomably disallowed by referee Clive Thomas in the dying moments with the scores level after Jimmy Case and Terry McDermott had scored for Liverpool and Bruce Rioch and Duncan McKenzie had done the same for the Toffees. Liverpool went onto win the replay 3-0 to further add insult to injury.
7. Everton 0, Liverpool 5 (Goodison Park), First Division, 1982 – Ian Rush completely destroyed his boyhood heroes with a four-goal salvo. Everton weren’t helped by having debutant Glen Keeley sent off early on, though. Mark Lawrensen added the other with a tap in from a Kenny Dalglish cross. This game is memorable most for the true finishing masterclass put on by Rush.
8. Everton 3, Liverpool 0 (Goodison Park), Premier League, 2006 – A game personally memorably for me for so many reasons. Could it be the tortuous four-hour long journey home in a car with three Everton fans? Could it be the one-word riposte of Phil Neal in the stands when asked what he thought of the performance…’disgusting’? Or could it be the now infamous chant of ‘Reina drops keep falling on my head’ that was sung in the crowded streets after the game in reference to the third goal of the game? Everton recorded their biggest victory over Liverpool in 42 years with a display of clinical finishing. Tim Cahill notched the first before an Andy Johnson double ended the contest.
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9. Liverpool 3, Everton 2 (Anfield), Premier League, 1999 – Liverpool went into this game seeking their first victory over their nearest rivals since 1994 in a run that stretched to 9 games. Olivier Dacourt put Everton ahead inside the first minute with an excellent strike from 30 yards. Marco Materazzi then gave away a penalty after clumsily lunging for the ball and bringing down skipper Paul Ince in the process. Robbie Fowler dispatched the penalty before then celebrating with the now infamous ‘snorting the line’ celebration which manager Gerard Houllier bafflingly laughed off stating that Fowler was “eating the grass”. Fowler added a second with a header before Patrick Berger added a third with a fine volley from the edge of the area. Francis Jeffers got Everton’s second late on with a neat turn and finish. There was still time for more drama, though, as an 18 year-old sub by the name of Steven Gerrard managed to clear off the line from Danny Cadamarteri in the dying embers of the game.
10. Liverpool 0, Everton 1 (Anfield), Premier League, 1999 – A typically feisty Derby day encounter saw Kevin Campbell’s 12th goal in 19 games since arriving back from Turkey prove the difference in the fourth minute. Francis Jeffers and Sander Westerveld were both shown a red card for what can only be described as handbags at dawn and Steven Gerrard was also given his marching orders for a scything (not the first time that could be said of his challenges in a Derby game) challenge on Campbell late on.
AC Milan are set to renew their interest in Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez, and will sell Robinho to raise funds to make a move for the Argentine, according to Mirror Football.
The South American attacker has had a rollercoaster season; firstly he refused to enter the field of play against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, then went AWOL for three months, only to return to City’s line-up and help them to the Premier League title.
Despite all this, Tevez’s future is unclear as yet and the Italian side are eager to bring him to the San Siro after seeing attempts thwarted in January.
The Rossoneri lost their Serie A title to Juventus this term, and as such as having a revamp of their squad in the summer, with older heads Alessandro Nesta, Rino Gattuso, Filippo Inzaghi, Gianluca Zambrotta, Mark van Bommel and Clarence Seedorf all on their way out.
Robinho, who has been on the fringes of the Milan starting line-up, may also make way in the summer clearout.
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Leeds’ season officially ended on Saturday, though you could say it never really got started. Going down 2-1 to Leicester at home meant that we didn’t even go out on a high, but the game itself did at least throw up a few interesting developments involving Jermaine Beckford.
Jermaine received a good reception from the fans and after his goalscoring exploits whilst in the white shirt it’s easy to understand why, but it was nice, if not a little surprising, to see Beckford acknowledge the fans with the Leeds salute. In fact, so obvious was his affection to the Leeds fans that Nigel Pearson opted to sub him at half time to prevent him receiving an ovation from the fans as he left the field of play.
After the game, Jermaine was more than happy to sign pictures for the Leeds fans that had stayed behind to see him. To one person he even stated how the only shirt he’d ever be scoring in again at Elland Road would be a Leeds one. Strong words for the centre forward of another team, in the same division.
Ken Bates has admitted a few times how he’s been offered the services of Beckford on more than one occasion, opting not to resign the striker as he felt it was ”best to move on” which roughly translates to ‘would cost too much’, but with Beckfords obvious admiration for the club and the fans, perhaps it would be worth giving this relationship one more try. Rumours in Leicester are that Beckford to Leeds is already a done deal, which is a tad premature to say the least, but with a few of the current squad reportedly telling the fans at the end of season party that Neil Warnock has already signed three players it’s hard not to at least hold a little hope that we might be chanting Beckfords name once again next season.
Another old boy that could be making a move is Alan Smith, who has been linked to Leeds in every transfer window in recent memory. Smith has recently been speaking about potentially taking up a coaching role at Newcastle United, but with Newcastle flying high in the Premier League it’s hard to imagine where he’d fit in.
This transfer window could actually be the one in which Smith returns, with Neil Warnock telling the fans how the dressing room next season will only contain players that can handle playing for Leeds. Nevertheless, putting memories and the potential problems with wages to one side, it’d be hard to imagine Smith back in the white shirt. While he would undoubtedly bring passion, he would struggle to bring any real quality to the team with his best days seemingly behind him. Despite this, unless Smith has his future cleared up quickly you can be sure that this is a story that will last the whole summer, even if the fans have heard it all before.
One player that is certainly not ex-Leeds is El Hadji Diouf, who has been strongly linked with a move to Elland Road. Diouf went on record to state how he’d love to help Leeds win promotion and how any past problems with Neil Warnock were forgotten.
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Warnock himself was asked specifically about Diouf whilst being interviewed by TalkSport, Warnock insisted that his line was breaking up, then put the phone down. The very same routine he played out when TalkSport asked Warnock whether he’d be taking the Leeds job, and we all now how that turned out.
Whether Beckford, Smith or Diouf do find themselves at Elland Road come the start of the new season is anyones guess, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’m keeping my fingers crossed over one in particular, bruv.
After an impressive 5th place finish in the Premier League, Newcastle United fans are looking ahead to next season with renewed vigour. Years of inept owners and dodgy transfer dealings gave the Magpies a calamitous reputation but having reclaimed their place near the summit of English football with some excellent foreign signings, can Newcastle genuinely sustain their transfer policy?
Geordie supporters have certainly suffered through a number of shocking transfers so it’s refreshing to see so many unknown quantities enjoying their football at the Sports Direct Arena. Transfer market horror shows like Marcelino and Jean-Alain Boumsong have been consigned to the history books by cut price success stories such as Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tiote. It’s a process that initially seemed to possess an ulterior motive amidst chairman Mike Ashley’s controversial cost cutting schemes but the club have found a method that benefits them on the field as well as financially.
Having been criticised for selling stars of their promotion side like Kevin Nolan, Jose Enrique and Joey Barton, Newcastle have managed to improve on their best former players and turn a profit at the same time. Selling Andy Carroll for £35 million and replacing him with a more prolific free transfer in Demba Ba was a particularly astute piece of business and while no fan is naive enough to expect such a financial windfall from every transfer, it still highlights the strides being made by Ashley & Co to streamline Newcastle as a profitable business. Naturally it’ll become more difficult to maintain the same level of success every time a generation of player is moved on but it still sets a strong precedent that has been sorely lacking in previous Magpie regimes.
The improvements made to their recruitment drive form an excellent blueprint for success. Buy low, sell high seems fairly straightforward as a policy but there are no guarantees on how players will adapt to their new surroundings. This is where unsung heroes like Graham Carr earn their crust and the club’s Head Scout has enjoyed so much success in the transfer market that he’s recently signed a new 8-year deal. It was Carr who recommended players such as Tiote and Cabaye to Alan Pardew while also spotting the goal scoring potential in Papiss Demba Cisse and he will continue to advise the manager on potentially well priced targets. Carr told the BBC:
“What we try to look at is players who are playing first-team football at quite a young age.
“I first saw Papiss Cisse playing for Metz, he was on a Senegalese training camp they had there but he didn’t have the passport to come in. I saw Yohan Cabaye in the France Under-19s, I saw Tiote playing for Roda, before he went to FC Twente.
“We followed these players, they’ve been on the radar for a long time.”
Having spent most of his time in northern Europe with the majority of signings coming from France and the Netherlands, Carr has found an approach which has clearly reaped rewards. Tiote, Cabaye and Cisse have already proved their worth by helping the club qualify for Europe and Newcastle are set to continue this trend having recently announced the signing of another unknown in Romain Amalfitano from Stade Reims.
Their latest unheard of French signing could either follow in the footsteps of Hatem Ben Arfa or Sylvain Marveaux but that’s one of professional football’s unpredictable qualities. Whatever his future, Newcastle are still snapping up the best talent from across Europe and this will help re-establish them near the top of the Premier League. Whether or not fans are completely happy with Ashley’s overall contribution to the club, Carr told BBC Newcastle that his involvement will lead to more new signings.
“Mike has committed himself to the club and there will be money available to buy players.
“As we speak we are in the market for players to improve the squad.”
After so many years of uncertainty it’s remarkable to think Ashley has progressed from being the public hate figure that sacked Chris Hughton and sold their best players to his current role as a thrifty businessman with sensible investment strategies. His commitment to the cause is currently being well received and it would appear Newcastle have finally found the perfect blend of recruitment and investment.
Critics will insist the Magpies lucked out when signing so many unproven professionals. The current crop will not be replaced as easily and their reputation for a bargain will lead to selling clubs demanding more money. These are genuine concerns but after so many years of frustration Newcastle have finally found a way to improve both their team and their finances. There will always be negative connotations from battle worn fans trying pre-empt potential heartbreak and while it may turn out to be Ashley’s clever use of smoke and mirrors, any team that kills two birds with one fairly inexpensive stone deserves to attract envious stares from their rivals.
Do you think Newcastle can sustain their progress? Would you be happy if your club followed the same method? Should Ashley be given the benefit of the doubt?
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Even the greatest managers fail sometimes and despite all his trophies at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson isn’t perfect. For every Eric Cantona, Jaap Stam and Ruud van Nistelrooy, there’s a whole host of signings that Manchester United fans will try desperately to erase them from memory.
Old Trafford can be an unforgiving place for a player, especially considering the Reds often have to pay over the odds for signings. The pressure can be difficult to handle and individuals often face levels of unwarranted criticism. Rather like Ernst Stavro Blofeld, failure simply isn’t tolerated at Manchester United and that hunger for success has clearly worked, especially seeing as the Reds have overhauled Liverpool’s number of titles.
That feat isn’t thanks to any of the people listed below however, some of whom were so bad, it’s not implausible to suggest they were planted by Liverpool to try and destroy United’s legacy. See what you think of United’s worst XI signings from the Premier League era:
Click on William Prunier to unveil the XI
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With every single day UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations unfurl ever greater in our footballing consciousness. Clubs across the continent will be required to break even by 2015, which for certain Premier League clubs looks a big ask. But elsewhere, the European football governing body have moved to level the playing field even further on the issue of third-party ownership, but will its effects be felt further afield?.
England and France are currently the only nations to outlaw such arrangements, with other European clubs such as Porto regularly utilising third-party investors as a way to help attain players. This gives them an advantage as it essentially means they can purchase talents who they would not otherwise be able to afford. UEFA’s whole premise for FFP is that clubs should not live beyond their means. With that in mind, upon lobbying from the English and French, they have moved to close a loophole in regards to third-party ownership, without making it illegal.
The new regulation means that clubs who sell a player of whom they only own, for example, 40% of the economic rights will not be able to count the portion of the transfer fee that they receive when balancing their books. Only revenues from players sold which the club had full ownership over can count towards a balanced budget for FFP.
However, the impact in South America, where third-party ownership is almost inherent in football, is likely to be negligible. The clubs need it to be competitive and when it is all above board it is beneficial to them. There would have been little chance of Neymar staying at Santos until the 2014 World Cup had it not been for external involvement in paying a part of his wages, now the club will have their newest idol for the foreseeable future.
In order to avoid such restrictions, it will likely lead to the creation of more links akin to Manchester United’s affiliation to Desportivo Brasil. The players at Desportivo are trained from a young age with their rights solely owned by sports media agency Traffic. United have set transfer fees in place with the company, based on player positions, in which they can acquire the 100% ownership of the player. This enables the training of players under their own methods along with easiness to track their progression. More clubs across Europe may look to replicate this and begin cultivating talent at an earlier stage.
But money spent on purchasing a small percentage of a players economic rights from South America could be considered as being thrown into the abyss. Yet the effect on European clubs may well still be minimal as it would be no different to paying a fee to loan a player. They would only need to pay for the rights owned by the parent team, assuming it was believed to be beneficial by the other parties involved, and therefore doing little to damage the prospects of a South American player moving to Europe.
This is enhanced in the point that if a club already own the complete economic rights to a player, they will still be able to sell off a portion to increase liquidity. While this may not be allowed to be counted on the books, it enables them to raise funds to immediately expend on another player, thus doing little to actually reduce the benefits of external involvement.
It was the decision of the English and French to outlaw third-party ownership. While there may be the odd horror story of a deal gone wrong (e.g 75% of Ronaldinho’s Flamengo wages being paid externally), if it is managed correctly then it can be beneficial. Such a change in Europe is unlikely to have the effect of changing attitudes in South America where third-party ownership, by and large, is seen as a useful tool.
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What are your views on third-party ownership? Let me know on Twitter @thwebber
Fear, excitement, delusion and desperation are vital ingredients for any transfer deadline day cocktail set to be guzzled by fans across the country this Friday.
Taxi drivers and airport baggage handlers will come alive with various sightings and illicit stories designed solely for the purpose of making grown men squeal like dizzy teenage girls. For it is on this day and this day only where absolutely anything is possible, with clubs throwing themselves into the market as the transfer window closes like some sort of medieval drawbridge.
Amongst all the rumour, hysteria and Ryan Babel hovering above us in his helicopter, managers can perhaps be forgiven for making a mistake or two. These mistakes can range from forgetting to replace the paper in the fax machine, to spending millions of pounds on a player boasting a name that no one can spell, let alone pronounce. In light of these lapses of judgement I have compiled a portfolio of players who fans will be eager to forget ever decided to move on this sacred day.
Click on Andy Carroll to reveal ten terrible last-minute purchases
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Join me on Twitter @theunusedsub for all the latest analysis and mockery of today’s transfer speculation.
Despite picking up just two points from their first three league games Chesterfield FC were wrong to sack their manager, argues Will Strauss.
Right, I’m going to set my stall out early so there is no confusion.
I don’t agree with either the sacking of John Sheridan as the manager of Chesterfield FC or the timing of it. Nobody was happy with relegation last season but I believe that, if he had to go, he should either have been sacked in May following confirmation of our return to League 2 (giving a new man a full summer to bring in his own players) or he should have been given until Christmas to prove that he was pointing the club in the right direction. Relieving a manager of his duties when there are still 129 more points to play for is quite simply too early.
There, I’ve said it. Now, with that out of the way, let’s try to look at this more objectively.
Although Sheridan is currently on gardening leave we must assume that the decision was made for footballing reasons.
So, let’s look at the results. We’ve only picked up two points from three league games. And we’ve been knocked out of the League Cup. In modern football this constitutes a ‘bad start’. And, as we have to consider everything in the context of modern football, questions should be asked (even if, last season, Reading lost four of their first six matches and still won the Championship at a canter).
Having been to two of those three league games I am reasonably well placed to provide some background.
Away at Wimbledon on the opening day of the season, such was our dominance of proceedings that we could’ve been 4-0 up inside twenty minutes. As it turned out, we weren’t, the home team scored a breakaway goal and that, as they say, was that. A lack of confidence and temperatures hovering above 30 degrees centigrade both played a part in our inability to get back into the game.
Surrender Possession
At home to Rotherham on Saturday, we surrendered a lot of possession but we created just as many openings as our expensively assembled opposition (who, for the record, played some decent stuff). The Millers had more shots on target and had a goal disallowed while we hit the post twice and had decent claims for a penalty turned down. A 1-1 draw was about right.
To my mind at least, there wasn’t much difference between the teams other than the excellent Kayode Odejayi, a player that we also struggled against last season when he was at Colchester. My major concern was our inability to work the keeper. When Rotherham got into decent positions, they tested Tommy Lee and forced him to make several good saves. When Chesterfield created openings, they did not make Scott Shearer do likewise.
I didn’t go to the Rochdale game but, by all accounts, we had four attempts cleared off the line. So, adding all that up, with a bit more luck we could have, say, five points right now instead of two.
Surely, such fine margins are not a big enough stick to beat a manager with?
One thing that I did notice on Saturday was how ineffective some of our new signings were. Our best players on the day (Lee, Mark Allott, Neal Trotman and Nathan Smith) were all at the club last season. Marc Richards, the striker, as well as defenders Sam Hird and Terrell Forbes looked short on confidence, despite their obvious attributes.
At the time I dismissed it as it can often take a team a bit of time to gel. But, in hindsight, if you’re the chief executive and you’ve just agreed to splash out several thousand pounds a week on their wages, perhaps it’s more of a concern. Sam Togwell, another new signing, had a poor first half too but a much better second one. So it wasn’t all bad news for the new boys. If the board were looking for signs of an early return on their investment, however, there may not have been that many.
Player Power
The suggestions I keep hearing are that ‘Shezza’ didn’t have a great relationship with the players and this may have had an impact on his future employment prospects. But several tweets in the last few hours contradict that. Former players Dwayne Mattis, Dean Holden and Craig Davies as well as last season’s loanees David Davis and James Hurst have all made positive noises about Sheridan. Admittedly, winger Dean Morgan didn’t (but that won’t come as much of a surprise to those that follow him).
As you would expect following relegation, crowds are definitely down. The 7,232 that turned up at the weekend were bolstered by nearly 2000 from South Yorkshire. Our average crowd last season was 6,530. Against Rochdale, only 4,595 turned up. A season back in league 2 will certainly come at a financial cost.
But is any of that evidence enough to get Sheridan the boot before August is out? Not least as, statistically speaking, clubs changing managers during a season subsequently tend to perform worse than those that do not.* Fortunately, I suspect it is not. From what I have read it does not seem like a potentially embarrassing knee jerk reaction. It was one based on the last twelves months, not the last twelve days.
In an interview following the announcement of Sheridan’s departure, chief executive Chris Turner said: “We have to be conscious of the fact that we were relegated last season, but we did win the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, the squad was assembled this summer and out of the four games we’ve played we have yet to win one. Added to those factors and one or two others things that were here in the mix, the decision was made.”
The important line coming out of the football club is that the board wanted “the football club to kick on again” and to be seen to be “moving forward”. And I cannot argue with that sentiment. But, contradicting it somewhat, they’ve put the previous manager’s assistant in charge and they “are not looking at making an immediate appointment.”
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I like Tommy. He seems like a decent lad. And he’s far less grumpy in front of a TV camera than Sheridan (which can only be a good thing). But I don’t see how his this will rectify any of the problems highlighted above.
He won’t excite the crowd, bringing thousands of floating voters back to the TAFKATBS (The Arena Formerly Known As The B2Net Stadium) and with the wage bill limit now reached, he’ll be stuck with the same players.
Maybe he can enthuse those players in a way that his former boss could not. I don’t know.
What I do know is that I will back Tommy Wright and whatever he does but, even when I attempt to look at it objectively, the decision to sack John Sheridan before the end of August makes very little sense.
By Will Strauss. As well as writing about his first love, Chesterfield FC, Will is currently coming up with articles for DPR, the roofers in Leeds.
* “The Performance of Football Club Managers: Skill or Luck?” (November 21, 2011). ICMA Centre Discussion Paper in Finance No. DP2011-24. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1962574
With England set to kick off their campaign to qualify for the 2014 World Cup this weekend, Captain Steven Gerrard has been in front of the media in force, claiming that England do have the potential to win the world cup – well yes, in theory but so do San Marino – it doesn’t mean that they will.
Of course as England fans we have been subjected to many campaigns of nearly misses, goals that should have been and downright wretched performances not to mention the curse of penalties on more than one occasion. Whilst Spain’s biggest problem may be the logistics of expanding their trophy cabinet before another tournament, after having the wally with a brolly at the helm during a particularly bad couple of years England fans worry about qualifying for a tournament full stop.
Under Fabio Capello qualifying was about as much of a given as we are prepared to bet on, but the Italian never really took to England, the team, fans, language or players and jumped ship at the first available opportunity leaving Roy Hodgson at the mercy of national media who rather crassly mocked his speech impediment and indeed the not so forgiving fans.
During the Euros the team got about as far as most would agree they deserved to, with fans willing to give the manager a little bit of leeway due to the fact he hardly had any time to impress how he envisioned the team should play, but as the World Cup approaches, this is no longer an excuse and fans expect to see plenty more from Hodgson’s England.
The manager may have a decent reputation – Liverpool aside, but then again managing the Mersyside team seems to be the club of death for most managers these days – but Roy has been accused of playing it too safe and even boring on more than one occasion, and quite validly as well.
Yes there have been chances given to youngsters such as Oxlade Chamberlain – who was given more of a chance than Walcott when he was a surprise inclusion in Sven’s squad – and now Ryan Bertrand who could well start the game on Saturday, but more due to a lack of anyone else – but bringing Jordan Henderson to the Euros and indeed Downing made the majority of men under the age of 35 feel like they had a decent chance of putting on a pair of florescent boots and turning out for their country, and the side looked pretty much as average as ever.
It is obviously hard to allow a team to go through a period of transition, with players such as Terry, Rio – well pre choc ice gate – Lampard and Gerrard seen as fixtures in the team – at least in years past – but now it is time for change and the youngsters have to be given a chance to come through and find their feet at international level if England and indeed Hodgson want any chance of significant success in the future.
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Hodgson may not be seen as the most exciting or indeed daring of managers, and was not the first choice for the job in the eyes of the fans or the media, but is here now and does deserve a chance before the vultures descend. Already having made the choice between JT and Rio Ferdinand, Hodgson has weathered that storm albeit using a pathetic excuse of ‘footballing reasons’ and does have a decent foundation of a side to build on – providing he picks the right players of course –and avoids getting back into the dreaded Lampard / Gerrard debate. It is not easy managing a nation that expects the best when it so often produces the worst, and after a bedding in period during the Euros now the heat is really on for Hodgson and his England team.