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
There’s a three-way battle inside the Transfer Tavern for Hibernian and Scotland midfielder John McGinn with Celtic, Leeds and Frank Lampard’s Derby all interested.
The landlord has fallen out with the Scottish corner of the tavern after claiming it’s the land where footballers’ careers start, end and stagnate.
However brutal that may sound, it’s pretty accurate by looking at the last few years of Scottish football.
With Celtic winning their seventh consecutive top division title in May, the league’s reputation for being second rate has worsened even more. Aside from Premier League oldies like Kolo Toure signing for the league’s top togs, they’ve seen the likes of Scott Sinclair, 29, and Dedryck Boyata, 27, fall to mediocrity too.
Sinclair scored 21 goals in the 16/17 season and 10 last campaign, but that’s still not been enough to attract suitors from England’s top tier.
No matter how good his performances have been, the moans of ‘I’d be able to do that in Scotland’ ring out inside the Tavern each week. Whether right or not, in the eyes of the top teams in England, Scottish football has far less worth as an apprenticeship than the Championship.
Playing for either Leeds or Derby would place the 23-year-old McGinn right in the English spotlight, and that’s where he needs to be at this age.
Leeds, in particular, will be fighting for promotion this season, so what a move it could be for the Scot to lead them to the Premier League without having to force another transfer along the line.
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Of course, there are examples of young players developing their game at Celtic and then moving to the Premier League, not least the most expensive centre-back in the world Virgin Van Dijk. However, Van Dijk was fortunate Southampton brought him in from the cold after two strong years at in Glasgow, and opportunities like that don’t come often at Celtic.
It’s an ambitious leap to fight for a place in a more competitive division, but if McGinn has the desire to be the best he can be, he should be playing in the Championship come August.
City made amends for their shocking defeat to Wigan in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Monday with a dominant performance in the League Cup Final, as they clinched the Carabao Cup to the tune of a 3-0 scoreline courtesy of goals from Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva.
Aguero gave City the lead after 18 minutes when he took hold of Claudio Bravo’s 60 yard punt downfield and lofted the ball over David Ospina, and Vincent Kompany doubled the advantage midway through the second half when he redirected Ilkay Gundogan’s cross-cum-shot.
David Silva, known more for his support play than his goalscoring attributes, put the cherry on top of a fine Citizens performance when he rounded Calum Chambers and slotted the ball across Ospina.
Kompany, meanwhile, was named man of the match after he was influential at both ends of the pitch. But do Man City fans agree with the official assessment of the 31-year-old’s performance or did somebody outperform the Belgian skipper?
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Manchester City fans can have their say below by giving each player a performance rating out of ten…
Spurs are after a temporary place to play their football during the 2017/18 season and the possibility of sharing West Ham’s Olympic Stadium is one of the options being bandied around. The Hammers are yet to officially hear from Spurs so it is pure speculation at the moment and the Olympic Stadium is one of a few options including; Wembley and the Emirates.
The London Legacy Development Committee have suggested that Tottenham make a formal approach for the ground share of the Olympic Stadium as they would listen to the offer. The committee chairman suggested that the Olympic Stadium is a good option for Spurs fans and also for taxpayers, but he did add that West Ham “may have something to say about it” but he’s sure it would be possible to reach an agreement. I for one, really hope not.
Spurs initially failed in their bid to become permanent tenants of the Olympic Stadium after The Hammers beat them to it. Tottenham were involved in a messy challenge to the LLDC’s original decision with accusations of spying being made by West Ham officials.
Hammers fans in the most part would not want to share their stadium with anyone, certainly not fierce rivals. Of course it is done most famously by Lazio and Roma who share Italy’s own ‘Stadio Olimpico’. It can be done, but it shouldn’t be done in this case – not in any guise.
The Hammers’ fans want their own stadium and getting used to their new home will take some time without having Spurs fans gate-crashing the party in the club’s second season in Stratford.
West Ham fans are now more than aware that they have a board made up of business men and women who run the club not on commercial acumen rather than fandom. It was therefore feared that the chance of making or saving some money by sharing the stadium would make the board feel more open to the idea than the supporters.
Co-chairman David Gold was the one to break the silence on the situation when he was approached on Twitter with the statement: “Don’t you just know that @DavidGold will end up allowing Spurs to share the OS for a year? Betcha” to which Gold simply replied with “Don’t bet on it”. It’s not the clearest answer and you could garner a number of things from that simple reply but a business man who is suggesting that it isn’t worth a few quid is a positive thing to hear and if the Irons’ board are not willing to listen to the proposal then I think they’ve got it absolutely spot on.
Irons’ fans do not want to share with Spurs. I don’t think that Spurs would want to share with West Ham either, especially when it would be in their rival’s backyard – on their terms.
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I doubt any official bid will come in from Spurs despite the LLDC’s suggestion, and it’ll be a popular outcome among West Ham fans if it doesn’t amount to anything.