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.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is refusing to feel the pressure after his side were held to a goalless draw at home to Birmingham City on Saturday.
The Citizens have now failed to hit the back of the net in three consecutive Premier League games at Eastlands to further stymie their title chances.
A recent 3-0 loss to Arsenal and the midweek stalemate with cross-town rivals Manchester United now sees the big-spending outfit trail leaders Chelsea by six points, with the Londoners having a game in hand against Sunderland on Sunday.
But the Italian, who replaced star-striker Carlos Tevez for Gareth Barry late in the day, much to the dismay of the fans, insists he will not buckle under the strain.
"I am frustrated because I wanted to win this game. I don't want to draw or lose a game," he said.
"What pressure? For what? You continue to say that I am under pressure. I am not under pressure. We are in fourth position. We have some problems, we must improve. We played 13 games.
"If you think that I put four strikers on we will score four goals, this is not football. All the supporters can think like this, here or in Italy, but it is not football. I must think like a manager.
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"Altogether, we are unhappy. But I think that we played at 100 per cent, we had a lot of chances to score.
"But really we have this problem. We have some difficulty in scoring a lot of goals. I think it is important we had the chance to score. But we must improve. When we have a chance we must score."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Booing. We’ve all been guilty of it at some point in our career as a football fan, it’s a contagious means of voicing your displeasure when things go the shape of the pear.
Unfortunately it’s crept its way in and infected modern day football, at one stage it was predominantly confined to the end of a game but on more than one occasion this season we’ve heard groans of discontent well before the half time whistle. If we don’t act quickly, not only will this trait become increasingly common, it will also gradually become an established form of acceptable behaviour.
The game of football is an incredible phenomenon; it evokes an array of emotions that can essentially define your weekend. A good victory on a Saturday afternoon propels you towards euphoria that almost makes you long for the arrival of Monday morning, just so you can mock your rival work colleagues. Alternatively a humiliating defeat can render you speechless, as you spend an entire Sunday sulking in the garden shed until someone fetches you for dinner.
Jose Mourinho once claimed, “passion for the game, is passion for the game”, a statement that makes absolutely no sense but somehow we all know what it means.
It’s this compelling aspect that makes football and sport as an entity so utterly addictive, which is why we spend countless hours and inexplicable sums of money following our team up and down the country. But can we really call ourselves ‘supporters’ if we resort to booing when results don’t go our way?
Many people argue that people who pay to watch games on a regular basis have a right to voice their concerns, for better or for worse. Watching football is certainly an indulgence nowadays and it could be disputed that it’s the supporters who finance the club as much as any media or sponsorship investment. At face value it’s difficult to argue with those who feel this way but there has to be a more constructive way to convey your opinions.
In the recent BBC interview between (the blue half of) Manchester’s favourite sons, Noel Gallagher asked Mario Balotelli his thoughts on the impending return of Carlos Tevez. The eccentric Italian insisted that an animosity aimed towards Tevez would have a detrimental effect on the entire squad.
“If they make pressure on Carlos, they make pressure to all the team, so they should do nothing.”
It’s clear than any personal attack can end up distressing other members of the team whether the intended target is a player, the manager or even a member of the board. Steve Kean has endured a torrid past few months in his efforts to steer Blackburn out of their current relegation battle. It’s fair to say that Rovers fans were less than impressed with Kean’s appointment after the dismissal of Big Sam and have since made their new manager feel less than welcome. There are still a number of demonstrations and campaigns in full swing despite the fact the Venky’s have made it quite clear that Kean will be in charge for the considerable future. Perhaps their latest victory at Wolves will spark a transformation in the atmosphere at Ewood Park.
Speaking of Wolves, some of the reports emerging from Molinuex involving the protests surrounding their current plight are nothing short of inexcusable. It seems that Terry Connor is another manager faced with an uphill battle both on the pitch and in the stands, which highlights the somewhat disruptive influence of supporter’s favouritism. Much has been made recently of the worrying similarities between the managerial records of Roy Hodgson and King Kenny at Liverpool; perhaps if the Carling Cup had swung the other way then Dalglish would find himself under more pressure.
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Remarkably the act of ‘booing’ doesn’t just rear its ugly head at the foot of the table. The recent departure of Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea was arguably as much down to ‘fan power’ as the renowned ‘player power’ at the Bridge. The loyal Blue army are of course entitled to their own opinion but when they have to influence to dictate decisions made at a senior level of a professional football club, something has gone terrible wrong.
The sole purpose of booing an opposition’s player is to disrupt their performance, but popular target of ridicule El Hadji Diouf has made no secret of the fact that any hostility directed at him only serves as a tool of inspiration.
“I know I will get a tough time from some fans. But Gary Speed used to say to me, people never boo a bad player! I know people will boo me but I love that. The more you boo me the more power I get.” (Daily Record)
I can recall being at Selhurst Park back in 2010 as Palace took on Hull in a game that signalled the return of John Bostock. Having just been subject to an unsympathetic reception during his touchline warm-up, the Holmesdale end eagerly waited as Hull were forced into a change when Richard Garcia picked up an injury. A figure emerged on the touchline to a barrage of abuse and since the PA system was drowned out amongst the noise, no one quite realised that it was in fact Jay Simpson who was coming on. A series of boos greeted his every touch for a good five minutes before word got round. The game eventually fizzled out and ended 0-0, meaning everyone left the ground rather sheepishly and slightly red-faced.
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In all honesty booing at football grounds has to stop, let’s be honest it’s so primal it could be described as the equivalent of human ‘mooing’. As I’ve sought to highlight in this article it’s largely detrimental to a club’s fortunes and so if anyone is looking for a meaningful way to protest consider the following, silence can be deafening.
Follow me on Twitter @theunusedsub where booing is outlawed but sarcasm remains the highest form of wit…
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.”
Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce has praised the team for scoring two fine goals in Saturday's 2-1 Premier League success against Wigan Athletic.
Morten Gamst Pedersen fired home a free-kick before Jason Roberts finished to seal the victory at Ewood Park.
Allardyce was delighted that Rovers turned the corner against their Lancashire rivals following last week's late defeat at the hands of champions Chelsea.
"We're absolutely delighted because we've reversed the scenarios we've been facing in the last few games," he said.
"We've been playing exceptionally well and in between that we've not scored the goals for the chances we've created and end up either drawing or losing the games, particularly last week against Chelsea," he said.
"It was probably our best performance of the season (against Chelsea) and we lost the game in the last four minutes by just switching off and a little bit of quality from Chelsea.
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"Today, while in between we weren't as good as we normally were, our outstanding quality for the goals has beaten Wigan today."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
This weekend sees the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final take place at Wembley between League One side Chesterfield and League Two outfit Swindon Town. With Chesterfield bottom of League One and Paolo Di Canio’s Swindon top of League Two it’s likely to be a keenly fought contest as just one place separates the teams in the Football League. You could be at Wembley to see it thanks to Beko Mum’s United.
There are two pairs of tickets available to win, one pair for a Chesterfield fan and one pair for a Swindon fan. It should be a great occasion as both teams will be looking to follow in Carlisle United’s footsteps and win the trophy this season. Neither team have won the competition in the past, while there is also local pride at stake, as Chesterfield are representing the north and Swindon the south.
Both teams need a boost at this stage in the season, but for very different reasons. Chesterfield are really struggling in League One and currently find themselves at the very bottom of the table, staring relegation in the face. Swindon meanwhile are flying high at the top of League One and the Paolo Di Canio revolution is now in full force. Promotion and the St Johnstone’s Paint Trophy would represent an excellent first year in charge for the Italian.
The match takes place at 14:00 on Sunday and you can be there by entering the Beko Mum’s United competition. Simply click on the banner below to enter…
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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Michael Owen is refusing to give up hope of winning a recall to the England squad.
Owen, 30, has been out of the international picture since March 2008 and missed out on selection for the World Cup finals in South Africa despite joining Manchester United from Newcastle in July 2009.
The striker has scored 40 goals in 89 appearances for the Three Lions but remains out in the cold under current head coach Fabio Capello.
Uncapped Bolton Wanderers frontman Kevin Davies was called up ahead of Owen for next week's Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro in a further blow to the former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker's hopes.
However, Owen is refusing to accept that his days as an England international are now over.
"I haven't resigned myself to never playing for England again," he told the Daily Mirror.
"But I'm not stupid enough to get myself worked up before every squad's announced and then go 'oh no, the world's caved in and I'm not in it again'.
"Everyone deals with things in different ways. The first time I wasn't named in the squad I was really gutted. The second time I was pretty gutted, the next time I was just gutted and so on.
"People deal with knockbacks in life, whatever they may be, in different ways. You build up a protective mechanism so it won't hurt you.
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"If someone punches you on the nose, it hurts, so the next time it happens you'll put your hands up or you expect it's coming, so you soften the blow.
"It's like that with England. It hurt to start with, it hurt a little bit less the second time and now it doesn't hurt as much. But that doesn't mean I've given up.
"I'd love to play for my country again, but I don't look out for the squad expecting my name to be in it, unless someone phones me to tell me otherwise."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Roberto Mancini has stated that Manchester City have concluded a difficult run of fixtures, and is glad that his side are still top of the Premier League.
City have been struck down with injuries and suspensions, and have had a month of tricky domestic fixtures.
Despite this, the Italian coach feels that his team have come out of the period unscathed, and are ready to progress and challenge for honours.
“It’s important to be at the top at the moment,” Mancini is quoted as saying in Mirror Football.
“During the season, we know there are difficult moments.
“I don’t think we had a bad month in January, but we had a difficult month because this can happen with injuries, players away and players banned.
“If you have these problems, maybe it’s clear that you can’t always play very well,” he concluded.
City are two points ahead of Manchester United at the top, and face Aston Villa on Sunday.
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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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