All posts by h79snht.top

Welsh International Craig Bellamy has a history at Newcastle United. The 31-year-old was part of the United set-up between 2001-2005 and was lauded and criticised in equal measure during his time at the club. Whilst he often showcased his ability – at the end of his first season with Newcastle he was awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year award – he also showcased a little too much of his tendency towards ill-discipline.

Sir Bobby Robson noted that Bellamy was a “great player wrapped round an unusual and volatile character”. This was evident when in March 2004 Bellamy reportedly threw a chair at then first-team coach John Carver. He also had an all-too-public falling out with Newcastle manager Graeme Souness. This would end up to be his downfall at St. James’ Park. The abusive text messages sent from his phone to club captain Alan Shearer in April 2005 were merely the icing on the cake.

So he can be a hostile, difficult presence. But let’s not forget that Bellamy managed to collate 42 goals from 128 Newcastle appearances. A statistic that’s not too shabby at all.

Now there have been reports in the Press linking Newcastle with a move for Craig Bellamy come the end of the season. Should Newcastle give Bellamy another shot?

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He may not have the pace that he had during his first tenure at Newcastle, but from what I can tell he’s not lacking in sharpness. He’s a natural finisher, gets in good positions and he works hard. He’s one of those players who hates losing, who will spur the rest of the team on and who is capable of single-handedly dragging Newcastle to a couple of decent results over the course of the season.

He may be a muppet off the pitch, but on it he’s a decent player who can add something to Newcastle’s squad. Given his current situation – on loan at Championship side Cardiff City as a result of being surplus to requirements at Manchester City – there’s every chance that he’ll be available on the cheap this summer. The only problem would be matching his wages – though I’m sure he’d be willing to take a pay-cut if it meant regular Premier League football.

Newcastle fans will know what Bellamy is capable of. Though time has marched on since his first spell at St James’, it’s clear that Bellamy can still cut it at this level. He’s no Andy Carroll, but he’ll be available on the cheap and will help Alan Pardew build a squad that can eventually start challenging at the top of the Premier League table.

Though it may only be a rumour for the time being, I wouldn’t be disappointed if I saw this transfer go through.

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Read more of Harry’s articles at the excellent This Is Futbol

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Manager Roberto Mancini said he believes Manchester City can finish higher than fourth place on the table after his side’s 1-0 win over Blackburn.January Bosnian signing Edin Dzeko opened his English Premier League account with an effort in the latter stages of the second half to send his side four points clear of Tottenham in fourth place, edging City closer to securing a Champions League berth next term.

But the Italian boss hinted he might not be content with fourth place, as he eyed off passing rivals Chelsea (second) and Arsenal (third) in their remaining five matches despite trailing the two London sides by eight and five points respectively.

“If Chelsea lose all their games and we win we can arrive in second position. But I think that it is very difficult,” Mancini told Sky Sports.

“Now, after this game (against Blackburn), I think that we should think about Sunday’s game against West Ham because it will be very, very hard like this evening.”

Mancini said he felt the 1-0 result flattered the hosts at Ewood Park.

“I think that in the first half we played a fantastic game,” he said.

“We should have scored two goals – minimum. But in this period I think that all the games are very difficult.”

“In the second half the game changed because Blackburn played very hard and we fought with them for every ball.”

Blackburn manager Steve Kean lambasted the refereeing in the loss, saying his side could have been awarded two penalties and that Dzeko’s goal should have been disallowed for offside.

“There was contact (for the first-half penalty appeal), Jason (Roberts) was saying he wanted to go through and finish,” Kean said.

“We also thought we had a late (penalty) shout with Niko Kalinic.”

“On the goal, (Mario) Balotelli was right in front of Paul Robinson so I’m saying that was offside.”

Fernando Torres claimed the pressure had finally been lifted off his shoulders after he scored his first Chelsea goal in their 3-0 league win over West Ham on Saturday.The Spanish striker, who cost Chelsea 50 million pounds when he joined from Liverpool in January, had not found the net for 901 minutes for club and country, including 732 for the champions.

But it took him just eight minutes to do so after coming off the bench in the second half at Stamford Bridge, and the resultant celebrations in which the remainder of the Chelsea XI piled on top of Torres spoke volumes about the goal.

“It was not the beginning I was expecting when I signed, but it’s not easy to go in January or February,” Torres said.

“I kept working and it’s thanks to all my team-mates that I scored. There’s less pressure for me now, now I can enjoy it.”

“Today the pitch was not the best to score the goal, but football is like this.”

Torres insisted he had never got disheartened by the tough start to his Chelsea career, but admitted he owed the fans that goal.

“The fans have been very patient with me,” he added.

“I had more and more anxiety for them than for me. Hopefully this is the first of many.”

Didier Drogba, who made way for Torres having performed impressively up front, was delighted that Torres had broken his drought.

“We know we have a great player here. Next season is going to be fantastic for him,” he told ESPN.

“The most important thing today is the three points and Nando’s goal.”

“We have to focus on second place. Winning this game and being in front of Arsenal is the first step.”

In March, the Football Association was roundly criticised for their failure to retrospectively punish Wayne Rooney for a savage elbow attack on Wigan’s James McCarthy, with chairman, David Bernstein, claiming that under FIFA guidelines, “if the referee sees the incident, which in this case he did do, the FA has no authority except in what is called exceptional circumstances, really exceptional.” This is the FA’s routine response, often maintaining that action can only be taken after an incident in the case of mistaken identity, and yet they continually appear comfortable rescinding red-card decisions despite FIFA disciplinary statutes confirming: “An expulsion automatically incurs suspension from the next subsequent match.”

Despite this seemingly concrete ruling, John Mensah recently saw his red card received during Sunderland’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool retracted following an appeal. What’s more, the actual law regarding retrospective action states that the disciplinary committee of a particular national football association is responsible for: “a) Sanctioning serious infringements which have escaped the match officials’ attention;
 b) Rectifying obvious errors in the referee’s disciplinary decisions; 
c) Extending the duration of a match suspension incurred automatically by an expulsion; d) Pronouncing additional sanctions, such as a fine.” As I’m sure most of you have noticed, the b) component of the above decree opens the door to what most of us would consider a natural sense of justice. The definition of an ‘obvious error’ is, of course, subjective, but no more subjective than a Regulatory Commission sitting in judgment on a claim for wrongful dismissal. If the FA can overturn a referee’s decision, why are they so reluctant to punish the culprits involved in incidents missed by a match official? Surely the authority to do so is justified based on the FA’s power to ‘rectify obvious errors?’

Last weekend was by all accounts a fairly uneventful weekend of Premiership football, but White Hart Lane, as per usual, offered an inevitable degree of drama. Heurelho Gomes delivered a predictably calamitous error to allow Blackpool to take the lead against Spurs, but it was Charlie Adam’s stamp on Gareth Bale’s ankle that produced the most controversial post-match talking point after the points were shared. Tottenham manager, Harry Redknapp, refused to blame Adam for ending Bale’s season prematurely, but Blackpool’s captain will now be available to feature in his club’s final two survival-deciding games despite rupturing the Welshman’s ankle ligaments.

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Anyone who has since seen the challenge agrees that Adam stepped not only directly on to Bale’s ankle but also outside of the law, yet the FA will undoubtedly ignore the case particularly as Spurs are unlikely to lodge an appeal. In fairness to Lee Probert, Saturday’s referee, he had to make a decision in real time from one angle and then confirm his action immediately and in the heat of the moment. Unlike pundits and spectators, referees are not afforded the luxury of several replays in different speeds and from various angles, but there has to be a way of ensuring that players guilty of career-threatening tackles or serious assault are punished accordingly, even if the referee has initially misjudged a challenge’s severity or failed to acknowledge an infringement at all.

In 2006, Manchester City’s Ben Thatcher launched an elbow in to the head of Pedro Mendes, which knocked the Portuguese midfielder into the advertising hoardings, rendering him unconscious and requiring oxygen. Referee, Dermot Gallagher, showed Thatcher a yellow card at the time as on this occasion, it was decided that in fact Gallagher had not seen what he thought he saw, and, following review, the FA handed Thatcher an eight-game ban. Greater Manchester Police later made public their intentions to open an inquiry in to the incident had the FA not taken retrospective action. In September 2009, Eduardo da Silva was banned for two Champions’ League games by UEFA for diving to win a penalty against Celtic in the second leg of a qualifying tie. Although the suspension was overturned on appeal, how can UEFA attempt to ban a player for two games for an offence that, had it been seen by the referee, would have seen him just cautioned? The gravity of the punishment surely shouldn’t increase because the referee missed the initial offence.

It would appear that retrospective action is possible despite the FA’s denial, seeing as the association not only retains the authority to do so as stipulated by UEFA declarations but has also endeavored to punish those involved in particularly distasteful incidents in the past. I’m sure most fans would welcome the FA to interpret FIFA’s disciplinary ruling pertaining to ‘rectifying obvious errors,’ by administering appropriate sanctions to persistent bad tacklers, instead of allowing them to play the next game and beyond. However, this is the FA, an organisation that at one point believed that Steve McClaren was capable of managing England’s greatest talents at international level and who, let’s not forget, initiated the Respect Campaign to help referees – but aren’t they actually doing the exact opposite?

Should Adam be punished? Have your say on Twitter

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FootballFanCast.com WORLD Exclusive: Robbie Savage’s Face in a Baby Scan…

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Today I am compiling a list of the Top TEN ‘please come back’ Tottenham players. These are players that Spurs might wish they had never let go in recent history. These players might have looked awful in a Tottenham shirt, but then were a different player at a new club, or they are players who were sold with regret. At some stage, Tottenham fans will have said ‘I wish we never sold him’.

Tottenham have sold and bought back a remarkable amount of players over the years; Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch, Younes Kaboul, Pascal Chimbonda, Teddy Sheringham and Jurgen Klinsmann have all left and returned. Arguably there could be a place for them all on this list as their departures were, at some stage, regretted. Other players who have played well since leaving Tottenham are Danny Murphy, Matthew Etherington, Simon Davies and now Bobby Zamora, but are they are not included. You could also argue that quality players like Berbatov will always be missed but I think Tottenham made enough money from the transfer to be satisfied with his sale.

Click on Berbatov below to see the Top TEN

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Written By Joe Austin

Sir Alex Ferguson has backed the likely appointment of Alex McLeish to Aston Villa, saying the Scot will win over sceptical fans in time.Villa are believed to be finalising a two-million-pound deal for McLeish, with disgruntled former club Birmingham City expected to pocket a similar amount in compensation for losing their manager.

Birmingham had threatened to report Villa to the English Premier League and take out an injunction to block McLeish’s appointment after he abruptly resigned on Sunday.

The Blues found an unlikely ally in Villa’s own supporters, who have called on club owner Randy Lerner to call off his pursuit of the man responsible for managing – and overseeing the relegation of – their Midlands rival.

Now, Ferguson has waded into the ongoing drama with a ringing endorsement of his fellow Scot and one-time player at Aberdeen.

The Manchester United manager believes McLeish has the tools and the experience to take Villa from strength to strength.

“At the end of the day what will count is this – can he do the job for Villa?,” Ferguson said.

“It doesn’t matter whether there are 50 against him, 500 against him or five against him because the experience and the ability he has got, believe me, he will prove that he can do the job.”

“I’ve known him for a long time and I know his abilities. I know how conscientious he is. I know the determination and work ethic he’s always had to make sure he does the job right.”

McLeish earned his stripes with Motherwell and Hibernian and won two league titles with Rangers before advancing to the Scotland national setup.

He joined the Blues in 2007 and has twice led the side to relegation to the Championship.

“I have known Alex since he was 18 years of age when he went to Aberdeen,” Ferguson said.

“He was always intelligent, he was always inquisitive in his nature, he was always asking questions, and these to me are essential ingredients for being a successful manager.”

Scotland international Darren Fletcher will miss Manchester United’s pre-season tour to the United States, as he tries to recover from a stomach virus that sidelined him for two months last campaign.

The 27-year-old has lost a stone in weight due to the illness, and a club spokesman confirmed that the Dalkeith born man would not travel to North America.

Darron Gibson and goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak were not included in the 21 man squad for the trip, as speculation over the duo’s future at Old Trafford continues.

Six players who have represented their national side during the summer – Chris Smalling, Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverley, David de Gea, Phil Jones and Javier Hernández – will fly out at a later date.

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Summer signing Ashley Young will travel with his new team, and it has been revealed that the former Aston Villa winger will wear retired midfielder Paul Scholes’ number 18 shirt this season. De Gea will don the number one shirt, whilst Jones takes number four.

According to The Guardian, Cameroonian International Samuel Eto’o is interested in a move to the Premier League with Arsenal thought to be at the forefront of contenders for his signature. It’s not the first time that Eto’o has been linked with a move to England with both Arsenal and Chelsea thought to have made bids for his services in the past. At thirty years old, however, you might be forgiven for wondering if the ship had already sailed on the success of any potential move. It boils down to this: does Eto’o still have what it takes to compete in the Premier League and would he fit in at Arsenal ?

He’s currently plying his trade at Inter Milan where he has played a pivotal role in Internazionale’s forward line. He has scored 33 goals in 67 appearances – hardly figures becoming of a striker who is currently ‘slowing down’. Inter President Massimo Moratti has sung Eto’o praises on a regular basis, once telling reporters: “Eto’o is fantastic. I do not want to take anything away from Ibrahimovic, but for everyone it was really a great deal to get Eto’o. Samuel is truly extraordinary.”

Yet it still seems difficult to image Wenger going after a striker who is over thirty years old. Even Eto’o has acknowledged that age has become an issue: “I am now 30 years old and it is very important for me to think about my future before I sign what could be my last contract. I have already shown that I have what it takes to play in Italy and I now have the idea of proving myself in England.”

I have to say, that despite concerns surrounding his age, I think Samuel Eto’o would be an ideal addition to Arsenal’s squad. It’s clear that the Gunner’s need a world-class striker to partner Robin Van Persie. The likes of Marouane Chamakh, Carlos Vela and Nikolas Bendtner just haven’t been cutting the mustard and Eto’o doesn’t just represent a step-up from these players, but a gigantic lurch forward. Eto’o would add not only goals to Arsenal’s front-line, but experience and a winning attitude.

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He doesn’t seem to have lost any pace and he has at least two-three more seasons left at the peak of his game. Yes if Arsenal do acquire Eto’o at this stage he won’t have any potential re-sale value when his time with the Gunners is done but that shouldn’t be Arsene Wenger ’s concern at this moment.

Throughout his career Eto’o has maintained a ratio of one goal every two games (469 appearances, 250 goals) and has won most of the games top honours. The more you consider it, this ex-Barcelona star seems like a perfect addition to Arsenal’s squad.

Read more of Harry Cloke’s articles at This is Futbol

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Let’s face it, football is a game of clichés. You just have to listen to mangers during interviews, hear the ‘expert’ commentary offered by the likes of Sky, read what journalists have to say about the games they have witnessed. Even if it really was a ‘game of two halves,’ these generic statements are almost more amusing than informative in the modern game.

And even when the season ends, the clichés continue. The transfer window has a dictionary of its own, whether the players are sending ‘come-and-get-me pleas’, the managers are ‘issuing hands off warnings,’ or the chairmen are ‘slapping price tags’ on players left, right and centre. It’s almost a shame these are metaphorical, as the idea of Carlos Tevez on his knees pleading with clubs whilst being stickered with ‘£50 million’ labels by Sheikh Mansour is actually quite amusing.

But one cliché that seems to have lost its meaning over the course of the last few years is the notion of a ‘selling club,’ i.e. a club that sells. Not one of the more creative ones, granted, but one that used to carry quite a bit of weight. Fans never wanted their clubs to be described as one, and yet licked their lips at the thought of the likes of Fulham and Newcastle being forced to surrender their stars.

This last couple of years however look to have signalled the end of such a concept. Let’s look at the Ronaldo transfer from Manchester United. United were under no pressure financially to sell, they didn’t really want to lose arguably their star player, and yet they still took the £80 million from Real Madrid. Why? They said it was good business, but when you’re the most commercially successful club in the world that argument doesn’t make any sense. The same happened last Autumn with the shock news that Wayne Rooney was looking for a way out of the club. In the end they managed to appease the England striker, but for fans it was a shocking revelation. How was it that United could be losing key players?

The trend has continued this summer. Tevez wants to leave Manchester City. Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri look to be on the way out at Arsenal despite Arsene Wenger’s protestations. Luka Modric is determined to be wearing something other than the white of Tottenham next season.

It feels like a zombie apocalypse. The Premier League teams are the survivors, desperate to reach ‘the arc’ where civilisation, and the status quo, can continue. But there’s that niggling suspicion that maybe, just maybe, Arsenal were bitten when you were running frantically to the last safehouse. What happens if they did catch it? You’re all locked together, they could bite you next, and you could suddenly start haemorrhaging your stars?!

Back to reality. The fact is there was not a zombie apocalypse in which every team was suddenly and brutally transformed into a selling club. Selling clubs don’t exist. Horrifyingly, it is something much worse that has started happening in football.

Player power has taken a stranglehold on the game. Regardless of contracts, if a player wants to move they can force it by sulking until they get what they want, generally involving joining a team higher up and as a result gaining a higher wage package. The blame falls at the feet of the agents who sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of their client; that they deserve more, that their current club lacks ambition, that trophies and adoration will fall at their feet if they move. Not to mention the fact that the agent will get a tidy fee for their troubles.

It seems that it is no longer a case of clubs selling players, but one of players telling clubs they’re leaving whether you like it or not.

Whether this is a good thing or not depends entirely on what you stand for. If you’ve ‘had it up to here’ with clichés, you might see the death of the ‘selling club’ as a win. On the other hand, if you don’t want to live in fear that your supposedly dormant club is only moments away from exploding its best talent throughout the country, you might feel sick as a parrot at the direction football is heading in. Personally, I’m heading to the vets right now.

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If you have noticed any out of place clichés in this article, or have any of your own that you feel should have been included, splash them on my twitter. Best one gets a pat on the back.

http://twitter.com/#!/_tomclose

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As the draw was made for European qualification for the 2014 World Cup on Saturday in the glamorous surroundings of Rio Di Janiero, it wasn’t just the Welsh football strip that was red. There were also a few red faces out there when it was announced who Wales were sharing a qualifying pot with. It’s almost impossible to believe that a country that has produced terrific players down the years (Ryan Giggs, Ian Rush, Neville Southall, John Charles, Gary Speed, Craig Bellamy, Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey to name but a few) would be placed in a pot specifically for the worst teams in Europe. This meant that a once great footballing establishment were rubbing shoulders with part-time teams such as Andorra, Liechtenstein and San Marino.

With the talent that they have in their squad, as well as a young, respectable manager, it seems baffling that it has come down to this. Of course it has all come down to this thanks to a Romanian computer programmer who spotted an error in the FIFA ranking’s calculations. Thanks to this mistake, Gary Speed’s side were leapfrogged by the Faroe Islands, a country with 20,000 fewer inhabitants than the Isle of Anglesey. A country more renowned for its fishing and lace-knitting than its football. A country whose best footballer had a trial at Carlisle United, and was subsequently rejected by the club!

All jokes aside, it would be foolish to read too much in to the world rankings as most people would bet on Wales every time to defeat the Scandinavian minnows. But it does beg the question as to what has gone wrong with Wales?

Their greatest achievement in competitive football was reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup. Unfortunately that was 53 years ago and since then, they have not even come remotely close to repeating that achievement. During the 70s and 80s, they were very much the ‘nearly’ team of European international football: Not quite good enough to qualify for the major tournaments, but nonetheless, a force to be reckoned with. But after they narrowly missed out on World Cup qualification for USA ’94, the team went in to free fall, losing to teams like Georgia and Moldova, as well as being thrashed 7-1 by Holland. But after Mark Hughes took over as manager, things started to improve and the team came agonisingly close to qualifying for Euro 2004 in Portugal, but lost in a play-off to Russia. Since then, the team have failed to reach similar heights. Hughes helped the nation to 49th in the world rankings. Back in August 2008, the team were 51st. But having only won 9 matches out of their last 26, the team has slowly deteriorated and found themselves in 116th place back in February – their lowest ranking ever.

The main problem that Wales seem to have is a distinct lack of motivation and consistency in their team. Throughout the years they have produced some star players, but too often these players have simply not been there for their country. These players, Ryan Giggs being a classic example, either underperform or choose not to play. As a result, the team loses and when the team struggle to qualify for major tournaments, the star players don’t want to play. These players are proud to represent their country, but do not see it as their biggest priority. Looking at the team in recent years, there has always been an air of mystery. Nobody ever seems to know who will or will not be in the squad and who will play well and this has resulted in a team lacking in creativity, teamwork and consistency.

Managers have come and gone down the years, but none of them have been particularly successful in convincing the team’s more talented players to represent their country. This is the task that now lies at the feet of Gary Speed. If the team is to climb out of its shame-hole, Speed will need his star players to put club commitments to one side and put on the red jersey. On paper, with players like Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, Craig Bellamy, James Collins, Wayne Hennessey, David Vaughan and Robert Earnshaw, Wales should be considerably higher than their world ranking suggests and there is no reason why they cannot distance themselves from the ‘poor’ European teams and compete alongside the more ‘average’ European teams.

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On the plus side for Wales, the draw for World Cup qualifying has been reasonably quite kind to them. Their toughest matches will be against Croatia and Serbia and it’s difficult to see them getting a result against either team, however they have avoided European heavyweights such as Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland and England. Against Belgium, Scotland and Macedonia, Wales will fancy their chances considerably more.

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As things stand, Wales’ hopes of qualifying for the World Cup are probably the slimmest that they have ever been, but if Gary Speed can pull out all the stops to get his best players to represent their country, they may spring a few surprises.

Read more of Sam’s articles at http://diamondformation.wordpress.com/. Also follow him on Twitter: @DiamondFormat.