With time running out before the transfer window closes, Manchester United hope to engineer a breakthrough in their pursuit of Dimitar Berbatov in the next 48 hours.
Sir Alex Ferguson and his squad travel to Monaco today in advance of the Champions League draw this evening and the European Super Cup tomorrow, but there is also the possibility of face-to-face negotiations between the United hierarchy and Tottenham Hotspur officials in Monte Carlo.
Dialogue between the clubs has been minimal since United first expressed interest in Berbatov at the start of the summer, but Tottenham, having lined up a deal to replace him with Roman Pavlyuchenko, now appear ready to talk. The expected £28 million deal for Berbatov should move closer over the coming days, with a strong possibility that David Gill, the United chief executive, will discuss the matter with Damien Comolli, the Tottenham sporting director, while they are in Monaco, the latter as part of the London club’s delegation for the Uefa Cup draw.
Tottenham maintain that they will not sell for less than £30 million and believe that their bargaining position has been strengthened by the formal complaint they have made to the Premier League regarding an alleged illegal approach for Berbatov.
United, while vehemently protesting their innocence, accept that the complaint has added another unwelcome dimension to a complicated deal, but they firmly expect to complete the transfer and for Tottenham to drop their complaint once an agreement has been reached, as they did with Liverpool over Robbie Keane earlier in the summer.
What is certain is that Berbatov will have more of an eye on this evening’s Champions League draw at the Grimaldi Forum than tomorrow’s Uefa Cup equivalent. The Bulgaria forward has no intention of staying at White Hart Lane, having formally requested a transfer 13 days ago and since been left out of the squad for the home defeat by Sunderland. He has been shunned by some of his team-mates since returning to training this week and, with Juande Ramos, the head coach, having seemingly captured Pavlyuchenko from Spartak Moscow, Tottenham’s stance is no longer anything like so defiant.
Tottenham also maintain an interest in Andrei Arshavin, the playmaking star of Zenit St Petersburg, United’s opponents at the Stade Louis II tomorrow evening. That, after the Community Shield, is the second of seven trophies that Ferguson has talked of winning this season, but, as ever, the Champions League is a top priority.
This evening’s draw will give some indication of the task ahead for England’s contingent, with United and Chelsea having been installed as the bookmakers’ favourites, three months after contesting the final in Moscow. Celtic’s place in the group stage, as Clydesdale Bank Premier League champions, was already assured, but not so Rangers, who fell to FBK Kaunas, of Lithuania, earlier in the qualifying campaign.
There is a strong chance that Celtic, among the third group of seeds, could be drawn against any of the Premier League entrants, who will be eager to avoid clubs such as Fiorentina and Atlético Madrid, who are lurking among the lower seeds.
This evening’s draw will be preceded by an awards ceremony from last season’s Champions League, won by United. Ferguson is firmly expected to win the coach-of-the-year award and Cristiano Ronaldo the club footballer of the year, while Edwin van der Sar, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Ronaldo will be among the favourites to win their respective categories.
Of the 20 players nominated for awards, no fewer than 17 play for Premier League clubs, with six from United, five from Chelsea, four from Liverpool and two from Arsenal, reflecting their domination of last season’s tournament.
The only other candidates are Manuel Neuer, the Schalke 04 goalkeeper, Carles Puyol, the Barcelona defender, and Lionel Messi, the Barcelona forward.
How the draw works
Pot one Chelsea, Liverpool*, Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester United, Lyons, Inter Milan, Real Madrid
Pot two Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven, Villarreal, AS Roma, FC Porto, Werder Bremen, Sporting Lisbon, Juventus
Pot three Marseilles, Zenit St Petersburg, Steaua Bucharest, Panathinaikos, Bordeaux, Celtic, FC Basle, Fenerbahçe
Pot four Shakhtar Donetsk, Fiorentina, Atlético Madrid, Dynamo Kiev, Standard Liège*, CRF Cluj, AaB Aalborg, Anorthosis Famagusta, BATE Borisov
* Extra time being played
Clubs are drawn in eight groups of four, with teams playing each other home and away and the top two clubs progressing to the last 16, at which point the tournament reverts to a knockout format. Clubs from the same country cannot be drawn against each other in the group stage.
FROM:TIMESONLINES
Thứ Năm, 28 tháng 8, 2008
Thứ Sáu, 22 tháng 8, 2008
Thaksin Shinawatra offers to resign as pressure grows
“The term 'fit and proper' is a pretty broad one. I mean, is he a nice guy? Yes. Is he a great guy to play golf with? Yes. Has he got the finances to run a football club? Yes. I really care about those three things. Whether he is guilty of something over there, I can't worry too much about that.”
The man in question is Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand, who is holed up in Surrey, seeking political asylum in Britain, after refusing to face corruption charges in his homeland earlier this month. The man doing the talking and, one suspects, the caddying, is Garry Cook, appointed by Thaksin as executive chairman of Manchester City with the mission of delivering his vision of a club that is the equal of its neighbour.
First things first: according to Cook, Thaksin is “embarrassed” about the damage that his legal, political and financial circumstances have inflicted upon City of late; Thaksin has offered to resign from the club's board in order to alleviate growing pressure from the Premier League, whose “fit and proper person” test he no longer seems to satisfy; Thaksin is close to selling a significant minority stake in City to another Asian tycoon who will help to bankroll the club while £800million of his own assets remain frozen in Thailand.
The financial picture at City is far healthier than it appears from the outside, despite a recent flurry of borrowing from the banks and from John Wardle, the former chairman. Thaksin recognises that he made mistakes last summer and is prepared to be realistic, rather than ruthless, with Mark Hughes, the new manager. Even if no outside investment is forthcoming before the transfer window closes in nine days, Hughes has money to spend on new players.
Cook's intention was to assure the media and, by extension, the club's supporters, and holding court at the City of Manchester Stadium this week, he did that. But he also talked about the pressing need to sign a superstar in order to satisfy his and Thaksin's global ambitions and expressed disapproval of a City veteran team's use of the club's “intellectual property” in a Masters tournament.
He also predicted that the club not only could, but would, become as big as Manchester United and, to the horror of the traditionalists among us, declared that, in order to embrace the challenges of globalisation, he would favour a 14-club breakaway Premier League with no promotion and no relegation. With City in it, presumably.
Football is changing and, in Cook, an intelligent, dynamic executive who was born in Birmingham but has spent much of his working life in the United States as a creative force behind the expansion of the Nike brand, Thaksin has found a man to help City embrace those changes.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Put it this way, Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, has found a kindred spirit. Where he and Scudamore differ is on the subject of Thaksin, but Cook and the owner are in constant discussion with the league to try to find ways around the “fit and proper” hurdle.
“Dr Thaksin has been really open about this,” Cook said. “The man is embarrassed about the indignity brought on the club and on the league. He never intended for this to be the case. He has said to me: ‘If you need me to resign as a director to serve the needs of the Premier League, I'm fine with that as long as it doesn't change anything else.' There is this fit and proper person's test and that's one of the reasons why we would maybe look to take him off the board as a director.
“We're talking about a lot of things. We've talked about restructuring the board and selling part of his stake to an equity partner, who could come in and take some of the pressure away.
“Three months ago, the situation was very different and then it took a turn [the corruption charges and Thaksin's refusal to face them] that changed the whole aspect of it. We've talked about many different options. One thing we're adamant about is not giving up the majority stake-holding. And we're not looking at [selling to] institutions. It's a friend of a friend.”
Cook suggested that investment could be secured within days, giving Hughes further room for manoeuvre before the transfer window closes on September 1. Hughes would be forgiven for regretting his decision to leave the comfort of Ewood Park for the madness of City, but Cook said that he did not mislead the manager about the situation that he was coming into.
“I actually painted a picture of instability for Mark,” he said. “We told him there was plenty of money to spend on players, but that we had taken in some players that weren't right for the club. Our acquisition and disposal strategy was wrong and it is still coming back to bite us a little bit.
“We have talked about the need to sign a superstar, a global franchise entity. We went after Ronaldinho and we nearly got him. We told Mark not to come here if he thought we didn't need a superstar. I know people are going to say: ‘Here we go again, another guy from America telling us how it should be'.
“But in the intellectual property world of running a football club, when you have 3.7 billion people looking at you, you have to move away from football the way it is. It's reality. China and India, 30 per cent of the world's population, are gagging for football content to watch and we want to try to tell them that Manchester City is their content.”
These grandiose plans invite the inevitable question: can City ever become the equal, in global terms, of Manchester United? “We will,” Cook said. “If I didn't have that goal, I wouldn't be here. Can we? Yes. Will we? It might take a bit longer. At Nike you don't sit around saying, 'Can we?' you say, 'We will'. I've got to change that here. I call it the cultural cascade.
“I talk to my employees and I get: 'This is England, not America, you know,' 'This is Manchester, not London, you know,' 'This is Manchester City, not Man United, you know.' We have to change that culture.”
Before they can even think about that, City must change the culture of self-harm that has hindered the club for about four decades. Things seemed to be changing under the previous board until Thaksin came along last summer with his plans for global domination.
Time will tell whether he is the long-awaited saviour of Manchester City or whether the club, with a megalomaniac owner at the wheel, is hurtling towards oblivion in a golf kart.
Blue Moon with stars in its eyes: big names who would fit the bill
Ronaldo (AC Milan and Brazil, aged 31): No longer the force he was but still a marketing man's dream, despite the goofy teeth and the spare tyre around the waist. Manchester City have inquired about him in the past and will no doubt do so again. Cook's associations with Nike, the player's sponsor, could help.
Thierry Henry (Barcelona and France, 31): Another Nike client and another who, as he finds himself on the wrong side of the hill, might return to the Premier League for one final pay day.
Carlos Tévez (Manchester United and Argentina, 24): A long shot, but not quite as outlandish as it might sound. United are not guaranteed to pay the £32million required to buy out his contract from the businessmen, such as Kia Joorabchian, who “own” him. Joorabchian has close links with Thaksin Shinawatra, the City owner.
Ronaldinho (AC Milan and Brazil, 28): A persistent chase may have ended in predictable failure this summer, but at least he now knows there are two clubs in Manchester. A realistic option if things do not work out in Milan.
FROM:TIMESONLINE
The man in question is Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand, who is holed up in Surrey, seeking political asylum in Britain, after refusing to face corruption charges in his homeland earlier this month. The man doing the talking and, one suspects, the caddying, is Garry Cook, appointed by Thaksin as executive chairman of Manchester City with the mission of delivering his vision of a club that is the equal of its neighbour.
First things first: according to Cook, Thaksin is “embarrassed” about the damage that his legal, political and financial circumstances have inflicted upon City of late; Thaksin has offered to resign from the club's board in order to alleviate growing pressure from the Premier League, whose “fit and proper person” test he no longer seems to satisfy; Thaksin is close to selling a significant minority stake in City to another Asian tycoon who will help to bankroll the club while £800million of his own assets remain frozen in Thailand.
The financial picture at City is far healthier than it appears from the outside, despite a recent flurry of borrowing from the banks and from John Wardle, the former chairman. Thaksin recognises that he made mistakes last summer and is prepared to be realistic, rather than ruthless, with Mark Hughes, the new manager. Even if no outside investment is forthcoming before the transfer window closes in nine days, Hughes has money to spend on new players.
Cook's intention was to assure the media and, by extension, the club's supporters, and holding court at the City of Manchester Stadium this week, he did that. But he also talked about the pressing need to sign a superstar in order to satisfy his and Thaksin's global ambitions and expressed disapproval of a City veteran team's use of the club's “intellectual property” in a Masters tournament.
He also predicted that the club not only could, but would, become as big as Manchester United and, to the horror of the traditionalists among us, declared that, in order to embrace the challenges of globalisation, he would favour a 14-club breakaway Premier League with no promotion and no relegation. With City in it, presumably.
Football is changing and, in Cook, an intelligent, dynamic executive who was born in Birmingham but has spent much of his working life in the United States as a creative force behind the expansion of the Nike brand, Thaksin has found a man to help City embrace those changes.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Put it this way, Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, has found a kindred spirit. Where he and Scudamore differ is on the subject of Thaksin, but Cook and the owner are in constant discussion with the league to try to find ways around the “fit and proper” hurdle.
“Dr Thaksin has been really open about this,” Cook said. “The man is embarrassed about the indignity brought on the club and on the league. He never intended for this to be the case. He has said to me: ‘If you need me to resign as a director to serve the needs of the Premier League, I'm fine with that as long as it doesn't change anything else.' There is this fit and proper person's test and that's one of the reasons why we would maybe look to take him off the board as a director.
“We're talking about a lot of things. We've talked about restructuring the board and selling part of his stake to an equity partner, who could come in and take some of the pressure away.
“Three months ago, the situation was very different and then it took a turn [the corruption charges and Thaksin's refusal to face them] that changed the whole aspect of it. We've talked about many different options. One thing we're adamant about is not giving up the majority stake-holding. And we're not looking at [selling to] institutions. It's a friend of a friend.”
Cook suggested that investment could be secured within days, giving Hughes further room for manoeuvre before the transfer window closes on September 1. Hughes would be forgiven for regretting his decision to leave the comfort of Ewood Park for the madness of City, but Cook said that he did not mislead the manager about the situation that he was coming into.
“I actually painted a picture of instability for Mark,” he said. “We told him there was plenty of money to spend on players, but that we had taken in some players that weren't right for the club. Our acquisition and disposal strategy was wrong and it is still coming back to bite us a little bit.
“We have talked about the need to sign a superstar, a global franchise entity. We went after Ronaldinho and we nearly got him. We told Mark not to come here if he thought we didn't need a superstar. I know people are going to say: ‘Here we go again, another guy from America telling us how it should be'.
“But in the intellectual property world of running a football club, when you have 3.7 billion people looking at you, you have to move away from football the way it is. It's reality. China and India, 30 per cent of the world's population, are gagging for football content to watch and we want to try to tell them that Manchester City is their content.”
These grandiose plans invite the inevitable question: can City ever become the equal, in global terms, of Manchester United? “We will,” Cook said. “If I didn't have that goal, I wouldn't be here. Can we? Yes. Will we? It might take a bit longer. At Nike you don't sit around saying, 'Can we?' you say, 'We will'. I've got to change that here. I call it the cultural cascade.
“I talk to my employees and I get: 'This is England, not America, you know,' 'This is Manchester, not London, you know,' 'This is Manchester City, not Man United, you know.' We have to change that culture.”
Before they can even think about that, City must change the culture of self-harm that has hindered the club for about four decades. Things seemed to be changing under the previous board until Thaksin came along last summer with his plans for global domination.
Time will tell whether he is the long-awaited saviour of Manchester City or whether the club, with a megalomaniac owner at the wheel, is hurtling towards oblivion in a golf kart.
Blue Moon with stars in its eyes: big names who would fit the bill
Ronaldo (AC Milan and Brazil, aged 31): No longer the force he was but still a marketing man's dream, despite the goofy teeth and the spare tyre around the waist. Manchester City have inquired about him in the past and will no doubt do so again. Cook's associations with Nike, the player's sponsor, could help.
Thierry Henry (Barcelona and France, 31): Another Nike client and another who, as he finds himself on the wrong side of the hill, might return to the Premier League for one final pay day.
Carlos Tévez (Manchester United and Argentina, 24): A long shot, but not quite as outlandish as it might sound. United are not guaranteed to pay the £32million required to buy out his contract from the businessmen, such as Kia Joorabchian, who “own” him. Joorabchian has close links with Thaksin Shinawatra, the City owner.
Ronaldinho (AC Milan and Brazil, 28): A persistent chase may have ended in predictable failure this summer, but at least he now knows there are two clubs in Manchester. A realistic option if things do not work out in Milan.
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Cristiano Ronaldo will be given time to recover
Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, will not rush Cristiano Ronaldo back into action, despite the sight of the Portugal forward jogging at the club’s training ground fuelling reports that he may return to fitness sooner than expected.
Ronaldo has been given the green light to step up his recovery from ankle surgery, but Ferguson is cautious about the prospect of an early reappearance. The manager has suggested that the club’s leading scorer last season will be out until the beginning of October, but the speed of the 23-year-old’s recovery has led to claims that Ronaldo will return sooner.
“If a player is out for a certain period there is no point rushing him,” Ferguson said. “You may as well wait the extra week or two to make sure they don’t suffer any setbacks. Cristiano may get back quicker, but we are not putting him under any pressure.”
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Ronaldo has been given the green light to step up his recovery from ankle surgery, but Ferguson is cautious about the prospect of an early reappearance. The manager has suggested that the club’s leading scorer last season will be out until the beginning of October, but the speed of the 23-year-old’s recovery has led to claims that Ronaldo will return sooner.
“If a player is out for a certain period there is no point rushing him,” Ferguson said. “You may as well wait the extra week or two to make sure they don’t suffer any setbacks. Cristiano may get back quicker, but we are not putting him under any pressure.”
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Window Watch: Andrei Arshavin, Roque Santa Cruz, Philippe Senderos, Nikola Zigic
Andrei Arshavin, the Russia playmaker, could finally be on his way to Tottenham Hotspur after Zenit St Petersburg agreed to lower their £20 million asking price. Arshavin, who is keen to move to London, has been left out of the Zenit squad for the match against Krylya Sovetov Samara this weekend.
Zenit need the money to buy players before the transfer window closes on September 1, but are worried that Tottenham have lost interest in the 27-year-old. However, Dick Advocaat, the Zenit coach, seems confident that a deal will go through.
“The transfer period is yet to finish and things can still change,” Advocaat said. “Last year we sold Martin Skrtel to Liverpool for £10 million, and now probably Arshavin will go to Spurs.”
Roque Santa Cruz, the Paraguay striker, has ended speculation about his future by signing a new four-year contract with Blackburn Rovers. The 27-year-old has been the subject of failed bids from Aston Villa and Manchester City this summer. The new deal will tie him to Blackburn until June 2012 and his wages will rise to around £60,000 a week.
Santa Cruz has been a huge hit since arriving at Ewood Park from Bayern Munich for £3.8 million last summer and scored 23 goals in all competitions. The forward is thought to have been keen to repay the faith Blackburn showed by signing him from Bayern, despite his poor injury record, while the arrival of his 18-year-old brother, Julio, at the club was another reason to stay.
West Bromwich Albion have signed Borja Valero, the Spanish midfield player, from Real Mallorca for a club-record fee of £4.7 million.
Shaun Maloney has returned to Celtic from Aston Villa in a deal that could rise to £2.5 million. The midfield player moved in the opposite direction 18 months ago for £1 million.
Decent bets
Everton are in pole position to sign Nikola Zigic, the Serbia forward, from Valencia. Zigic was available only on a permanent transfer but his club are now willing to let him go out on loan.
Daniel Arismendi, the Union Atletico Maracaibo and Venezuela striker, has arrived in England for talks with Wigan Athletic.
Long shots
Philippe Senderos’s father has claimed that Newcastle United and AC Milan are trying to sign the Arsenal defender. “If his dad is right, he’s got two tremendous clubs to choose from,” Kevin Keegan, the Newcastle manager, said. “We need another defender.”
Arsenal are not interested in signing Gareth Barry, according to Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager.
One of Thiago Neves’s representatives has said that Manchester City are to sign the Brazil midfield player from Fluminense. Neves is said to have caught the eye while playing for his country in the Olympic Games.
FROM:TIMES
Zenit need the money to buy players before the transfer window closes on September 1, but are worried that Tottenham have lost interest in the 27-year-old. However, Dick Advocaat, the Zenit coach, seems confident that a deal will go through.
“The transfer period is yet to finish and things can still change,” Advocaat said. “Last year we sold Martin Skrtel to Liverpool for £10 million, and now probably Arshavin will go to Spurs.”
Roque Santa Cruz, the Paraguay striker, has ended speculation about his future by signing a new four-year contract with Blackburn Rovers. The 27-year-old has been the subject of failed bids from Aston Villa and Manchester City this summer. The new deal will tie him to Blackburn until June 2012 and his wages will rise to around £60,000 a week.
Santa Cruz has been a huge hit since arriving at Ewood Park from Bayern Munich for £3.8 million last summer and scored 23 goals in all competitions. The forward is thought to have been keen to repay the faith Blackburn showed by signing him from Bayern, despite his poor injury record, while the arrival of his 18-year-old brother, Julio, at the club was another reason to stay.
West Bromwich Albion have signed Borja Valero, the Spanish midfield player, from Real Mallorca for a club-record fee of £4.7 million.
Shaun Maloney has returned to Celtic from Aston Villa in a deal that could rise to £2.5 million. The midfield player moved in the opposite direction 18 months ago for £1 million.
Decent bets
Everton are in pole position to sign Nikola Zigic, the Serbia forward, from Valencia. Zigic was available only on a permanent transfer but his club are now willing to let him go out on loan.
Daniel Arismendi, the Union Atletico Maracaibo and Venezuela striker, has arrived in England for talks with Wigan Athletic.
Long shots
Philippe Senderos’s father has claimed that Newcastle United and AC Milan are trying to sign the Arsenal defender. “If his dad is right, he’s got two tremendous clubs to choose from,” Kevin Keegan, the Newcastle manager, said. “We need another defender.”
Arsenal are not interested in signing Gareth Barry, according to Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager.
One of Thiago Neves’s representatives has said that Manchester City are to sign the Brazil midfield player from Fluminense. Neves is said to have caught the eye while playing for his country in the Olympic Games.
FROM:TIMES
Luiz Felipe Scolari expects to seal deal for Robinho
Chelsea expect to sign Robinho in a matter of days after the Brazil forward told Real Madrid that he wanted to move to Stamford Bridge. Luiz Felipe Scolari is worried that his team will be too predictable without some Brazilian flair this season and the Chelsea manager has told his employers to do whatever it takes to sign the 24-year-old from the Spanish champions.
Real are holding out for £31.7 million for a player who has failed to live up to expectations at the Bernabéu, but Chelsea believe that they can reach a compromise quickly after Real turned down offers of £19.7 million and £25.4 million. “I dream of playing in the English league,” Robinho said. “Chelsea have a great squad and a great team. My objective is to play there. I've got nothing against Madrid, but I want to resolve this as soon as possible. It's not about money, I simply want to leave.”
Chelsea have offered to double the Brazilian's wages to about £70,000 a week and are confident that they will have signed the two players that Scolari wanted - Deco and Robinho - when he agreed to replace Avram Grant last month. Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, met Scolari and Frank Arnesen, the director of scouting and youth development, yesterday to update them on developments after flying back from Madrid.
Robinho has become disillusioned in Spain after Real tried to use him as a makeweight in their attempts to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United this summer and after he was refused permission to play for Brazil in the Olympic Games in Beijing.
“I like Robinho because his style is different from what we have,” Scolari said. “We need one player who can make a difference. To change our system we need a different type of player. If we only use one system it will be easy for other teams to beat us.”
Scolari trained with his first-team squad yesterday morning to prepare for tomorrow's match away to Wigan Athletic and the Brazilian made a point of having a quiet word with Frank Lampard after the England midfield player was booed by his own supporters during England's 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic at Wembley on Wednesday. Scolari advised Lampard to try some retail therapy. “I asked Frank if he was upset and he said no,” Scolari said. “I told him that now he had renewed his contract he should go out and spend some money.”
Lampard was happy to stay at Stamford Bridge after the club agreed to give him a five-year contract worth about £140,000 a week, but there are still question marks about the futures of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Andriy Shevchenko. Portsmouth are trying to sign Wright-Phillips on loan and Scolari will not stand in the winger's way if he decides to move to Fratton Park.
“I have 26 players in my squad so to lose one or two would not be a problem,” Scolari said. “I don't know what Shaun thinks about offers from other teams. I have three or four wide players so if we sell one it will not be a problem for me.”
Shevchenko stopped off in Milan on Thursday on his way back from Ukraine's 1-0 victory over Poland in Kiev but his hopes of returning to the San Siro appear to have been dashed temporarily after AC Milan insisted that they would sign him only on loan. “He was having negotiations in Milan on Thursday but he trained on Friday and everything is normal,” Scolari said. “I am happy if he stays because he will be one more option for me.”
Didier Drogba has an outside chance of playing in the home match against Tottenham Hotspur next weekend. The Chelsea forward has been sidelined with a knee injury but Scolari expects him to return to full training this week. “He is getting better and his knee is very well,” Scolari said. “Maybe he will play against Tottenham but whatever happens he will be ready in 15 days.”Steve Bruce, the Wigan Athletic
manager, goes into the match at home to Chelsea tomorrow having suffered humiliation at the hands of one of the London club's players this summer. Bruce, a keen golfer, could not resist a round with Andriy Shevchenko when the pair bumped into one another while holidaying in Barbados.
“I got hammered,” Bruce said. “Shevchenko's partner was the pro at Wentworth, while I was left with Stephen Hunt, from Reading. I have to say, Shevchenko is one hell of a golfer. We were beaten by the 9th hole, but I blame Stephen. He was hopeless.”
Four months ago, Emile Heskey delivered a devastating blow to Chelsea's title hopes with an injury-time equaliser as relegation-threatened Wigan came away from Stamford Bridge with a 1-1 draw. It has been a summer of change at Chelsea, but Bruce believes his former club, Manchester United, will make a successful defence of the title.
“I knew when we came away from Stamford Bridge that we were safe,” Bruce said. “But last season has gone. We've got to go and do it again, and make sure we're ready for the challenge. As for the title race, United are going to be formidable again.”
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Real are holding out for £31.7 million for a player who has failed to live up to expectations at the Bernabéu, but Chelsea believe that they can reach a compromise quickly after Real turned down offers of £19.7 million and £25.4 million. “I dream of playing in the English league,” Robinho said. “Chelsea have a great squad and a great team. My objective is to play there. I've got nothing against Madrid, but I want to resolve this as soon as possible. It's not about money, I simply want to leave.”
Chelsea have offered to double the Brazilian's wages to about £70,000 a week and are confident that they will have signed the two players that Scolari wanted - Deco and Robinho - when he agreed to replace Avram Grant last month. Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, met Scolari and Frank Arnesen, the director of scouting and youth development, yesterday to update them on developments after flying back from Madrid.
Robinho has become disillusioned in Spain after Real tried to use him as a makeweight in their attempts to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United this summer and after he was refused permission to play for Brazil in the Olympic Games in Beijing.
“I like Robinho because his style is different from what we have,” Scolari said. “We need one player who can make a difference. To change our system we need a different type of player. If we only use one system it will be easy for other teams to beat us.”
Scolari trained with his first-team squad yesterday morning to prepare for tomorrow's match away to Wigan Athletic and the Brazilian made a point of having a quiet word with Frank Lampard after the England midfield player was booed by his own supporters during England's 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic at Wembley on Wednesday. Scolari advised Lampard to try some retail therapy. “I asked Frank if he was upset and he said no,” Scolari said. “I told him that now he had renewed his contract he should go out and spend some money.”
Lampard was happy to stay at Stamford Bridge after the club agreed to give him a five-year contract worth about £140,000 a week, but there are still question marks about the futures of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Andriy Shevchenko. Portsmouth are trying to sign Wright-Phillips on loan and Scolari will not stand in the winger's way if he decides to move to Fratton Park.
“I have 26 players in my squad so to lose one or two would not be a problem,” Scolari said. “I don't know what Shaun thinks about offers from other teams. I have three or four wide players so if we sell one it will not be a problem for me.”
Shevchenko stopped off in Milan on Thursday on his way back from Ukraine's 1-0 victory over Poland in Kiev but his hopes of returning to the San Siro appear to have been dashed temporarily after AC Milan insisted that they would sign him only on loan. “He was having negotiations in Milan on Thursday but he trained on Friday and everything is normal,” Scolari said. “I am happy if he stays because he will be one more option for me.”
Didier Drogba has an outside chance of playing in the home match against Tottenham Hotspur next weekend. The Chelsea forward has been sidelined with a knee injury but Scolari expects him to return to full training this week. “He is getting better and his knee is very well,” Scolari said. “Maybe he will play against Tottenham but whatever happens he will be ready in 15 days.”Steve Bruce, the Wigan Athletic
manager, goes into the match at home to Chelsea tomorrow having suffered humiliation at the hands of one of the London club's players this summer. Bruce, a keen golfer, could not resist a round with Andriy Shevchenko when the pair bumped into one another while holidaying in Barbados.
“I got hammered,” Bruce said. “Shevchenko's partner was the pro at Wentworth, while I was left with Stephen Hunt, from Reading. I have to say, Shevchenko is one hell of a golfer. We were beaten by the 9th hole, but I blame Stephen. He was hopeless.”
Four months ago, Emile Heskey delivered a devastating blow to Chelsea's title hopes with an injury-time equaliser as relegation-threatened Wigan came away from Stamford Bridge with a 1-1 draw. It has been a summer of change at Chelsea, but Bruce believes his former club, Manchester United, will make a successful defence of the title.
“I knew when we came away from Stamford Bridge that we were safe,” Bruce said. “But last season has gone. We've got to go and do it again, and make sure we're ready for the challenge. As for the title race, United are going to be formidable again.”
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Thứ Ba, 19 tháng 8, 2008
John Terry is ready to lead England from the back again
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent
When England's players arrived at the team headquarters near Watford this week, Fabio Capello gave them a lecture on respect. He said that everybody in football would be watching their behaviour and their attitude towards referees extra closely this season and that it would be hard for him to select those that continued to attract bad headlines. John Terry did not take this as a positive sign in his quest to retain the England captaincy.
The next day, it was announced that Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, would be leading a government initiative against teenage knife crime and several England footballers, those perceived as good role models, were required to be the public face of the campaign. Rio Ferdinand, captain of Manchester United's double-winning team in many matches last season, sat next to Smith as she faced the cameras and he later spoke with feeling as a community leader and a longstanding anti-knife campaigner, who had helped to establish the Damilola Taylor Trust after the fatal stabbing of the ten-year-old from Peckham nearly eight years ago. Again, Terry did not see this assured display of statesmanship as of great help to his cause.
Frankly, he had long given up hope of leading out England at Wembley against the Czech Republic tonight. Terry had heard the same rumours as the newspaper journalists, the same insider information that has been circulating in football for the best part of six months. It began with a rumble that certain figures within the FA did not see Terry as captaincy material. Always officially denied, of course, but resurfacing from time to time, nonetheless. Chelsea were fined £30,000 for their protests when John Obi Mikel was sent off in a match away to Manchester United on September 23; later they were charged with failing to control their players away to Derby County on November 24. Terry was captain in both games.
There were other issues, too. One too many lurid Sunday newspaper headline, it was said. Not the sort of thing that reflects well on the English game with all those Fifa dignitaries to impress in time for 2018. Then Terry's £150,000 Bentley turned up in a disabled parking space. Brendan Behan wrote that there was no such thing as bad publicity; but he did not spend much time trying to catch Terry a break towards the end of last season. By March 19, when Chelsea drew 4-4 away to Tottenham Hotspur, the whispers had grown to a roar of banner headlines. The lack of respect shown by Terry and his team-mates for Mike Riley, the referee, was the final straw. The next week, Terry was overlooked by Capello as Ferdinand was handed the captain's armband for a match in France, and whole sermons about standards of behaviour were read into the manager's pidgin English and translated answers.
The brusque manner in which Capello announced Ferdinand's elevation at a team meeting was also said to indicate his displeasure at Terry's conduct, rather than his rudimentary grasp of a foreign tongue, and from there the Ferdinand-for-captain rollercoaster went at speed down the rails. Even when Terry was made captain against the United States in May, and scored, it was perceived as a morale-building sop to get him over the agony of missing what would have been the winning penalty in the Champions League shoot-out. Unlike Ferdinand, he did not travel with the team to play Trinidad & Tobago in June. The lines of communication continued to buzz with predictions of a demotion.
Hear the same sentence enough times and you start to believe it, and Terry will have lost count of the number of times he has heard, or read, that Ferdinand was to be Capello's captain. According to his agent, Aaron Lincoln, he was resigned to listening as the manager read out Ferdinand's name at the team gathering after training yesterday when it was known the decision would be revealed.
He did hear the clipped pronunciation of Ferdinand, but as his understudy, not his replacement. Steven Gerrard was the biggest loser, usurped as vice-captain, Terry the biggest winner, reinstated to the position he held under Steve McClaren. What he won was something that was technically in his possession, but it must still have felt like locating a prized item of jewellery down the back of the sofa having long written it off as lost. And successfully claimed on the insurance.
“I was surprised, actually,” Terry said. “You hear little things and with the form Rio has been in and what Manchester United have achieved I thought he would get it.”
So what swung it? Capello has talked of a captain in the mould of Franco Baresi, his leader at AC Milan, and right down to his central defensive position in the team and his penalty miss at a final of a leading tournament, there are similarities. Capello admired Baresi's ability to command the players under pressure, to stay calm and give instructions, to execute the game plan. This is Terry's forte, too. It is no coincidence that he was missing from the two matches in which England fell apart at the back at crucial moments, in Russia and at home against Croatia.
As for Ferdinand, it has been argued that responsibility has brought the best out of him, that it has made him more focused during matches. Yet is that truly an attribute? Why should it need an armband to get a man's head straight? Surely, awarding the captaincy is not about what the job can do for you, but what affect your appointment has on the team. Yes, Ferdinand may appear the better role model, but where do the moralists draw the line? Ferdinand's behaviour after United played away to Chelsea last season was hardly exemplary and he did miss that drugs test. We all know what you get for that these days: a gold medal.
Captive audience
John Terry's second coming as England captain will be witnessed by the biggest football crowd in Europe this evening. The FA has sold more than 65,000 tickets for the first international of the season at Wembley and with ticket offices open throughout the day it hopes that the attendance could be in excess of 70,000. Tickets remain available priced between £30 and £60.
FROM:TIMESONLINE
When England's players arrived at the team headquarters near Watford this week, Fabio Capello gave them a lecture on respect. He said that everybody in football would be watching their behaviour and their attitude towards referees extra closely this season and that it would be hard for him to select those that continued to attract bad headlines. John Terry did not take this as a positive sign in his quest to retain the England captaincy.
The next day, it was announced that Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, would be leading a government initiative against teenage knife crime and several England footballers, those perceived as good role models, were required to be the public face of the campaign. Rio Ferdinand, captain of Manchester United's double-winning team in many matches last season, sat next to Smith as she faced the cameras and he later spoke with feeling as a community leader and a longstanding anti-knife campaigner, who had helped to establish the Damilola Taylor Trust after the fatal stabbing of the ten-year-old from Peckham nearly eight years ago. Again, Terry did not see this assured display of statesmanship as of great help to his cause.
Frankly, he had long given up hope of leading out England at Wembley against the Czech Republic tonight. Terry had heard the same rumours as the newspaper journalists, the same insider information that has been circulating in football for the best part of six months. It began with a rumble that certain figures within the FA did not see Terry as captaincy material. Always officially denied, of course, but resurfacing from time to time, nonetheless. Chelsea were fined £30,000 for their protests when John Obi Mikel was sent off in a match away to Manchester United on September 23; later they were charged with failing to control their players away to Derby County on November 24. Terry was captain in both games.
There were other issues, too. One too many lurid Sunday newspaper headline, it was said. Not the sort of thing that reflects well on the English game with all those Fifa dignitaries to impress in time for 2018. Then Terry's £150,000 Bentley turned up in a disabled parking space. Brendan Behan wrote that there was no such thing as bad publicity; but he did not spend much time trying to catch Terry a break towards the end of last season. By March 19, when Chelsea drew 4-4 away to Tottenham Hotspur, the whispers had grown to a roar of banner headlines. The lack of respect shown by Terry and his team-mates for Mike Riley, the referee, was the final straw. The next week, Terry was overlooked by Capello as Ferdinand was handed the captain's armband for a match in France, and whole sermons about standards of behaviour were read into the manager's pidgin English and translated answers.
The brusque manner in which Capello announced Ferdinand's elevation at a team meeting was also said to indicate his displeasure at Terry's conduct, rather than his rudimentary grasp of a foreign tongue, and from there the Ferdinand-for-captain rollercoaster went at speed down the rails. Even when Terry was made captain against the United States in May, and scored, it was perceived as a morale-building sop to get him over the agony of missing what would have been the winning penalty in the Champions League shoot-out. Unlike Ferdinand, he did not travel with the team to play Trinidad & Tobago in June. The lines of communication continued to buzz with predictions of a demotion.
Hear the same sentence enough times and you start to believe it, and Terry will have lost count of the number of times he has heard, or read, that Ferdinand was to be Capello's captain. According to his agent, Aaron Lincoln, he was resigned to listening as the manager read out Ferdinand's name at the team gathering after training yesterday when it was known the decision would be revealed.
He did hear the clipped pronunciation of Ferdinand, but as his understudy, not his replacement. Steven Gerrard was the biggest loser, usurped as vice-captain, Terry the biggest winner, reinstated to the position he held under Steve McClaren. What he won was something that was technically in his possession, but it must still have felt like locating a prized item of jewellery down the back of the sofa having long written it off as lost. And successfully claimed on the insurance.
“I was surprised, actually,” Terry said. “You hear little things and with the form Rio has been in and what Manchester United have achieved I thought he would get it.”
So what swung it? Capello has talked of a captain in the mould of Franco Baresi, his leader at AC Milan, and right down to his central defensive position in the team and his penalty miss at a final of a leading tournament, there are similarities. Capello admired Baresi's ability to command the players under pressure, to stay calm and give instructions, to execute the game plan. This is Terry's forte, too. It is no coincidence that he was missing from the two matches in which England fell apart at the back at crucial moments, in Russia and at home against Croatia.
As for Ferdinand, it has been argued that responsibility has brought the best out of him, that it has made him more focused during matches. Yet is that truly an attribute? Why should it need an armband to get a man's head straight? Surely, awarding the captaincy is not about what the job can do for you, but what affect your appointment has on the team. Yes, Ferdinand may appear the better role model, but where do the moralists draw the line? Ferdinand's behaviour after United played away to Chelsea last season was hardly exemplary and he did miss that drugs test. We all know what you get for that these days: a gold medal.
Captive audience
John Terry's second coming as England captain will be witnessed by the biggest football crowd in Europe this evening. The FA has sold more than 65,000 tickets for the first international of the season at Wembley and with ticket offices open throughout the day it hopes that the attendance could be in excess of 70,000. Tickets remain available priced between £30 and £60.
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Thứ Hai, 18 tháng 8, 2008
Total result matchs
Arsenal - Wesbrom 1 - 0 (Ars: Samir Nasri 4')
Boltol - Stoke 3 - 1 (Bol : Steinsson 34 Davies 41 Elmander 46 - Sto : Fuller 91)
Everton - Blackburn 2 - 3 (Eve:Arteta 46 Yakubu 64 - Bla:Dunn 22 Santa Cruz 66 Ooijer 91)
Hull city - Fulham 2 - 1 (Hul:Geovanni 22 Folan 81 - Ful:Ki-Hyeon 8)
Middlesbrough - Tottenham 2 - 1 (Mid:Wheater 71 Mido 86 - Tot: Huth o.g. 91)
Sunderland - Liverpool 0 - 1 (Liv: Torres 83 )
West Ham - Wigan 2 - 1 (Wes:Ashton 3, 10 - Wig:Zaki 47)
Middlesbrough - Tottenham 2 - 1 (Mid:Wheater 71 Mido 86 - Tot: Huth o.g. 91)
Sunderland - Liverpool 0 - 1 (Liv: Torres 83 )
West Ham - Wigan 2 - 1 (Wes:Ashton 3, 10 - Wig:Zaki 47)
Chelsea - Portsmouth 4 - 0 (Che:J Cole 12 Anelka 26 Lampard (pen) 46 Deco 89)
Villa - ManC 4 - 2 (Ast:Carew 47 Agbonlahor 69 ,74 ,76 Manc:Elano (pen) 64 Corluka 89)
Man Utd - Newcastle 1 - 1 (Mu: Fletcher 24 - New: Martins 22 )
Manchester United frustrated by spirited Newcastle United
- Let us start at the very end, when the final whistle blew and a delighted Kevin Keegan disappeared into a huddle with his coaching staff while Sir Alex Ferguson wore the look of a man who had just missed the last bus home. The goals and the points had been shared, but the elation of Newcastle United’s supporters was in stark contrast to the mood among the home fans, who may have been wondering what kind of deficit their team will face when they return to Old Trafford in late September.
- By a quirk of the fixture list, complicated by their participation in the Uefa Super Cup against Zenit St Petersburg on August 29, in Monaco, United do not have another home game in the Barclays Premier League until the visit of Bolton Wanderers on September 27, by which time they will have been to Portsmouth, Liverpool and Chelsea without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo. This was not the game in which they would have expected to drop points in a tough start to the season, but, with Ronaldo sidelined, Carlos Tévez absent because of a family bereavement and Dimitar Berbatov yet to complete his protracted move from Tottenham Hotspur, they lacked the wit and the penetration to break down a surprisingly spirited Newcastle.
- A draw at Old Trafford on the opening day of the season is not necessarily a portent for a successful campaign, as Reading’s experience last term showed, but, for Keegan, it was worth celebrating. Newcastle were lucky to meet the European champions on an off-day, but, with his team taking an early lead through Obafemi Martins and then reasserting themselves after Darren Fletcher’s equaliser, Keegan was entitled to laud the performance of his side, not least his three new signings, Fabricio Coloccini, Danny Guthrie and Jonas Guttiérez
- “It was a good performance and I thought we thoroughly deserved a draw,” Keegan said. “You can’t afford to carry anyone when you come here; the attitude has to be spot-on. But I had a really good feeling after watching them train on Saturday. The attitude was spot-on and I’ve told them in the dressing-room that if they can come here and do that, they can go anywhere and do it.”
- Such statements will have Newcastle’s supporters fantasising about the good times returning to Tyneside and, while they should not get too far ahead of themselves, the performances of their three new players were encouraging. Coloccini, who completed his £10 million move from Deportivo La Coruña on Friday, had an uncomfortable start in the centre of defence, but improved as the afternoon went on; Guthrie, who failed to make the grade at Liverpool, performed with diligence and composure in midfield; and Guttiérez showed that there is more to him than a frankly disturbing obsession with Spider-Man.
At least four fans in the away end could be seen wearing Spider-Man costumes and, if this display, full of aggressive running, is a sign of things to come from the Argentina winger, fancy-dress shops on Tyneside can expect busy months ahead. - Newcastle had the temerity to take the lead on a ground where they lost 6-0 last season, with the incredulity of their supporters perceptible during the briefest of silences that preceded the celebratory roar. Guthrie swung over a corner from the right and, with Fletcher napping, Martins sent a firm header past Edwin van der Sar. Ferguson expressed alarm afterwards that a player of the Nigerian’s height (or rather lack of it) should have scored such a goal.
- A strange performance from the home team was characterised by Fletcher. He scored United’s equalising goal in the 24th minute, darting ahead of Charles N’Zogbia to poke Ryan Giggs’s cross past Shay Given, and it was just as well he did score given that, as well as being at fault for Newcastle’s goal, the midfield player repeatedly incurred the wrath of Wayne Rooney during the first half.
- Rooney started the game with great purpose, sending in a delicious cross from which Fraizer Campbell, who impressed on loan to Hull City last season, would have scored a debut goal had his header not caught Given on the forehead. Campbell was among the few positives for United, with the youngster again forcing Given into a more orthodox save in the second half, but it was asking a lot of him to step into the gap left by the absences of Tévez and Ronaldo and the continuing stalemate with Tottenham over Berbatov.
By the end, having replaced Giggs and Campbell with Rodrigo Possebon and Rafael Da Silva, two Brazilian teenagers, United had two full backs, Da Silva and Patrice Evra, operating on the wings and Rooney ever more isolated in attack. Apart from Vidic heading against the crossbar with 16 minutes remaining, United barely threatened in the second half and it was telling that, as their frustration grew, three United players were booked in the closing stages. - Not a great start for the champions, for whom a game of catchup beckons, but, reassuringly, the cavalry, Berbatov included, is on its way.
Man Utd ratings
4-4-2 E van der Sar 5 W Brown Y 5 R Ferdinand 7 N Vidic 6 P Evra 6 D Fletcher 5 M Carrick 5 P Scholes 7 R Giggs 6 F Campbell Y 6 W Rooney Y 6
Substitutes J O’Shea (for Carrick, 25min 5), R Possebon (for Giggs, 63 5), R Da Silva (for Campbell, 80) Not used T Kuszczak, G Neville, J Evans, D Gibson. Next: Portsmouth (a)
Newcastle ratings
4-4-1-1 S Given 7 H Beye 6 S Taylor 7 F Coloccini 6 C N’Zogbia 5 J Milner 6 N Butt 6 D Guthrie 7 J Guttiérez 7 D Duff 5 O Martins 7
Substitutes not used S Harper, J Enrique, S Bassong, D Edgar, Gérémi, A Smith, R Donaldson. Next: Bolton (h)
by:Oliver Kay
FROM:TIMES
Dimitar Berbatov: Please let me follow my dream
- Dimitar Berbatov urged Tottenham Hotspur last night to show understanding over his “dream” of joining Manchester United, whose need for attacking reinforcements was exposed as they began their defence of the Barclays Premier League title with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United.
- With an ankle injury ruling Cristiano Ronaldo out for the first six weeks of the new campaign and Carlos Tévez missing yesterday because of a bereavement, Sir Alex Ferguson was forced to give a debut to Fraizer Campbell alongside Wayne Rooney in attack and, with the latter having missed much of preseason with a virus, the United manager admitted that his team sorely lacked penetration at Old Trafford.
- Ferguson refused to discuss his interest in Berbatov afterwards, with the clubs still some way apart as they haggle over a fee, but the Bulgaria forward broke his silence on the matter last night, making clear his determination to move to Old Trafford even though he did not refer to United directly. “I’m now in Tottenham, but no one can disagree with me wanting to follow my dream,” he said as he returned to Sofia to prepare for a midweek international friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Mischievously, perhaps, Berbatov sought to compare himself to Eric Cantona, the talismanic former United forward, when asked about his sulky disposition on the bench before he came on during Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat away to Middlesbrough on Saturday. “If I had been laughing when I was on the bench, people would say I was an idiot,” he said. “Eric Cantona never smiled, but I don’t know if anyone ever asked him why he didn’t look happier.” - On Friday lunchtime Berbatov pleaded with Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, and Damien Comolli, the sporting director, to grant him his wish to be able to join United, but Levy is determined to make United pay £30 million for the forward and will enjoy the thought that Ferguson’s desperation will have grown with yesterday’s result.
- United have not made an official bid since a £20.5 million offer was rejected last month, but negotiations continue to take place through intermediaries, with the clubs expected to agree a fee in the region of £28 million this week or, at the very latest, before the transfer window closes on September 1. Emil Dantchev, the player’s agent, said: “We have two more weeks until the end of the transfer window and I think this will be the most important week. I read Alex Ferguson’s statement that he wants another striker and I hope that this striker is Dimitar Berbatov.”
- Ferguson is expected to offload Louis Saha once a deal is agreed for Berbatov, with AS Roma continuing to show an interest in the France forward, and he may yet agree to loan Campbell to Hull City, whom he helped to win promotion last season. Another United player who could yet leave before the transfer window closes is Mikaël Silvestre, who has attracted interest from Celtic and, closer to home, Manchester City. Previously this summer the France defender indicated that he would prefer to stay at Old Trafford for a tenth season, even if his first-team opportunities appear increasingly limited.
BY:Oliver Kay
FROM:TIMES
Thứ Bảy, 16 tháng 8, 2008
Hammers see off Wigan revival
IT MAY seem obvious to say that goals change a game but this match proved it. You wouldn’t have given Wigan a prayer after only 10 minutes, when they were 2-0 down, let alone at half-time when the score was the same and they had mustered scarcely one major attempt on goal.
However, they scored within a couple of minutes after the interval and took it from there. Took the game, that is to say, emphatically to a suddenly diminished and ineffectual West Ham, who were immensely lucky to hold on to a 2-1 lead that seemed more fragile from minute to minute.
It might be argued that, as are so many things in football, it was all in the mind. To dredge up a relevant cliche, having scored, Wigan plainly began to believe, while West Ham mysteriously ran out of steam. They lost a midfield that they had previously dominated and which now featured the power, precision and technique of Honduras international Wilson Palacios. But for all their possession, all the good football they now played, Wigan found it hard to create concrete chances and so it was that West Ham survived.
Yet in those first 10 minutes, they looked irresistible and Wigan looked fragile in defence to a degree. First, Mark Noble found the French right-winger Julien Faubert who crossed from the right. Dean Ashton, in irresistible early form, pivoted dynamically and whipped in a tremendous right-footed shot on the turn. There was nothing Chris Kirkland could have done about it.
In the 10th minute, after a left-wing corner by Faubert, the ball came to Ashton on the far post and it was 2-0. You wondered then, as Wigan looked increasingly laborious, just how many goals would follow.
In the event, there was none at all, though on 14 minutes, a left-wing cross by Faubert was met by Carlton Cole’s strong header, which Kirkland jumped to turn over the bar. Two minutes more, and Cole, at the other end, was actually heading off his own goalline after a Wigan corner; Wigan’s only attempt of any consequence throughout the half.
Ten minutes after that, Kirkland went down low to take a shot from the new West Ham right-back, Valon Behrami, but the score stayed at 2-0.
Just two minutes later into the second half and it was 2-1. The Wigan left-back Maynor Figueroa took one of his long, searching throws from the left, Emile Heskey, otherwise largely anonymous, flicked it on, and Amr Zaki, the Egyptian international, whipped the ball in with his left foot. He should really have got at least one more, notably on 67 minutes, when another long throw by Figuro gave him an excellent chance that he booted over the bar. Palacios, admired both by his own manager Bruce and West Ham’s Alan Curbishley, had Wigan’s second most significant shot of the second half, a fierce right-footed drive that the West Ham keeper Robert Green soared to turn over the top, but that was as near as Wigan came to what would have been a thoroughly well-merited equaliser.
Afterwards, Bruce said: “We have just given them a doing in their own backyard. That’s what disappointed me. You can’t give two goals away. The second one was pathetic. You can’t expect to come here and score three, though we could and should have done.”
He spoke of how, at the instigation of Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, he signed Palacios for his previous club, Birmingham City, and now he has him profitably at Wigan. He spoke enthusiastically, too, about Zaki: “I thought he could play in the Premiership and you saw it today. He’s took the best chance, his goalscoring record is unbelievable.
“You can see today he had five chances. He needs a little bit more composure. Yes, I know I’ve got a decent team, but as we didn’t defend properly, we came unstuck. We took a long time to recover from the two goals.”
Star man:Wilson Palacios (Wigan)
WEST HAM:Green 7, Behrami 7, Davenport 6, Upson 6, Neill 6, Faubert 7 (Boa Morte 86min), Parker 6 (Mull-ins 72min), Noble 6, Etherington 6, Ashton 7 (Sears 73min), Cole 6
WIGAN: Kirland 7, Melchiot (De Ridder 83min), Scharner (Koumas 83min), Boyce, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole 6 (Sibierski 85min). Palacios 8, Kapo, Heskey, Zaki
Referee:S Bennett
Attendance:32,758
FROM:TIMESONLINE
However, they scored within a couple of minutes after the interval and took it from there. Took the game, that is to say, emphatically to a suddenly diminished and ineffectual West Ham, who were immensely lucky to hold on to a 2-1 lead that seemed more fragile from minute to minute.
It might be argued that, as are so many things in football, it was all in the mind. To dredge up a relevant cliche, having scored, Wigan plainly began to believe, while West Ham mysteriously ran out of steam. They lost a midfield that they had previously dominated and which now featured the power, precision and technique of Honduras international Wilson Palacios. But for all their possession, all the good football they now played, Wigan found it hard to create concrete chances and so it was that West Ham survived.
Yet in those first 10 minutes, they looked irresistible and Wigan looked fragile in defence to a degree. First, Mark Noble found the French right-winger Julien Faubert who crossed from the right. Dean Ashton, in irresistible early form, pivoted dynamically and whipped in a tremendous right-footed shot on the turn. There was nothing Chris Kirkland could have done about it.
In the 10th minute, after a left-wing corner by Faubert, the ball came to Ashton on the far post and it was 2-0. You wondered then, as Wigan looked increasingly laborious, just how many goals would follow.
In the event, there was none at all, though on 14 minutes, a left-wing cross by Faubert was met by Carlton Cole’s strong header, which Kirkland jumped to turn over the bar. Two minutes more, and Cole, at the other end, was actually heading off his own goalline after a Wigan corner; Wigan’s only attempt of any consequence throughout the half.
Ten minutes after that, Kirkland went down low to take a shot from the new West Ham right-back, Valon Behrami, but the score stayed at 2-0.
Just two minutes later into the second half and it was 2-1. The Wigan left-back Maynor Figueroa took one of his long, searching throws from the left, Emile Heskey, otherwise largely anonymous, flicked it on, and Amr Zaki, the Egyptian international, whipped the ball in with his left foot. He should really have got at least one more, notably on 67 minutes, when another long throw by Figuro gave him an excellent chance that he booted over the bar. Palacios, admired both by his own manager Bruce and West Ham’s Alan Curbishley, had Wigan’s second most significant shot of the second half, a fierce right-footed drive that the West Ham keeper Robert Green soared to turn over the top, but that was as near as Wigan came to what would have been a thoroughly well-merited equaliser.
Afterwards, Bruce said: “We have just given them a doing in their own backyard. That’s what disappointed me. You can’t give two goals away. The second one was pathetic. You can’t expect to come here and score three, though we could and should have done.”
He spoke of how, at the instigation of Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, he signed Palacios for his previous club, Birmingham City, and now he has him profitably at Wigan. He spoke enthusiastically, too, about Zaki: “I thought he could play in the Premiership and you saw it today. He’s took the best chance, his goalscoring record is unbelievable.
“You can see today he had five chances. He needs a little bit more composure. Yes, I know I’ve got a decent team, but as we didn’t defend properly, we came unstuck. We took a long time to recover from the two goals.”
Star man:Wilson Palacios (Wigan)
WEST HAM:Green 7, Behrami 7, Davenport 6, Upson 6, Neill 6, Faubert 7 (Boa Morte 86min), Parker 6 (Mull-ins 72min), Noble 6, Etherington 6, Ashton 7 (Sears 73min), Cole 6
WIGAN: Kirland 7, Melchiot (De Ridder 83min), Scharner (Koumas 83min), Boyce, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole 6 (Sibierski 85min). Palacios 8, Kapo, Heskey, Zaki
Referee:S Bennett
Attendance:32,758
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Mido’s touch downs Spurs
Middlesbrough 2 Tottenham 1
ONE of the reasons Middlesbrough were willing to part with Jonathan Woodgate last season, apart from the small matter of £8m, was that they already had a replacement who could fill the gap. When his p r e d e c e s s o r s h o w e d u p yesterday in the colours of Tottenham Hotspur, David Wheater was able to assure his club that their faith in him had been justified.
On a miserable opening day for Spurs, when a late own-goal was the sum total of their efforts, and Dimitar Berbatov’s transfer to Manchester United appeared to move a step closer, the man who took full advantage of their fragile condition was Wheater.
Not only did he score the opening goal, he had another disallowed, and although the big centre-back was filling in at right-back, he did more than enough at the other end to thwart a Tottenham side who lacked an edge in the penalty area.
To make matters worse for a frustrated travelling support, the decisive goal, which came with four minutes left, was plundered by their former striker, Mido. When Gary O’Neil picked out new signing Didier Digard at the corner of the box, the substitute’s low shot across goal was turned in by a player who has bagged more injuries than goals since his move to the Riverside.
It was that kind of day for Tottenham, whose absentees were as interesting as their starting lineup. The presence of Berbatov on the bench seemed to reflect renewed speculation about his future.
His manager, Juande Ramos, denied reports that the Bulgarian had put in a transfer request, and insisted that he still wanted to keep him. “Of course,” he said. “I love great players. For the moment, he is a Spurs player. We are happy with him as part of the squad. There is nothing to say.”
The decision to start him on the bench made no sense. Either he is distracted, and not fit to play at all, or he is committed to Tottenham for 90 minutes, but as it was, he remained hidden until the Londoners’ patience ran out. “We opted for Giovani [Dos Santos] as I thought his speed would trouble Middlesbrough,” said Ramos. “However, as Middlesbrough tired, we decided to throw him on.”
Berbatov’s arrival on the pitch midway through the second half prompted an even mixture of booing and applause from the 4,000 travelling supporters. If this turns out to be his last appearance for a club who are also adjusting to life without Robbie Keane, the acquisition of Andrei Arshavin will become an urgent priority. Zenit St Petersburg are reported to have dropped their asking price for the Russia striker. “I cannot speak about players who are not currently in my squad,” said Ramos, when asked about the forward who came to prominence at Euro 2008.
Although Giovani had a bright game, Darren Bent was quiet, save for a late shot that flashed wide, and Spurs’ best efforts came from distance, usually courtesy of David Bentley’s boot. “It is always difficult when you have quite a few new players. Everyone takes time to settle into a new type of football, ” said Ramos.
Spurs lacked the freshness expected of a team that gave d e b u t s t o L u k a M o d r i c , Heurelho Gomes, Bentley and Giovani. The last two of those combined to create the visitors’ best effort of an otherwise pedestrian first half. The Mexican striker, playing deep behind Bent, danced past two opponents before laying the ball off to Bentley, who stepped inside to rush a hopeful shot wide from just outside the box.
Middlesbrough left Didier Digard and Marvin Emnes on the bench but they were sharper in key areas. When Tuncay dashed on to Wheater’s long ball, and lobbed it over Benoit Assou-Okotto, his pass to Afonso Alves gave the left-back just enough time to recover. With a sliding challenge, the Spurs defender deflected the shot over. Then, when Wheater arrived late in the box to crash a Stewart Downing corner into the net, referee Martin Atkin-son decided that he had pulled down Michael Dawson in the process.
There was a distinct improve-m e n t i n S p u r s a f t e r t h e interval, with crisper, more inventive passing, and another shot from Bentley to declare their intentions. This time, with his back to goal, the £15m signing from Blackburn accepted a pass from deep, needed only one touch to turn and steady himself, before delivering an outswinger that the goal-keeper parried wide.
Berbatov’s arrival briefly compounded Middlesbrough’s problems, most notably when his clever exchange with Jer-maine Jenas allowed the midfielder to test Brad Jones with a low shot, but as long as the home side have Stewart Downing in their midst, they will sustain a threat. With 17 minutes left, the England midfielder swung in a low cross to the front post, where a flick by Alves was tipped on to the bar by Gomes. It was no surprise to find the irrepressible Wheater, an eager handful at both ends, pouncing on to the loose ball and thrashing it over the line.
Middlesbrough announced yesterday that they had signed Justin Hoyte from Arsenal for £3m but it was too soon for him to make his debut, so Wheater played at right-back, and Robert Huth partnered Pogatetz in central defence. The big German had a sound enough game until stoppage time, when he rose to meet Bentley’s cross, but succeeded only in glancing it into the far corner.
It couldn’t take the sheen off a performance that had the Middlesbrough manager, Gareth Southgate, brimming with optimism. “There has been a real good feeling about the club preseason,” he said. “When there is that faith, you want to reward it with a performance and a result, and we did that on both counts.”
Star man:David Wheater (Middlesbrough)
MIDDLESBROUGH:Jones 6, Wheater 8, Huth 7, Pogatetz 6, Taylor 6, Aliadiere 6, O’Neil 7, Shawky 6, Downing 7, Alves 6 (Mido 76), Tuncay 6 (Digard 72)
TOTTENHAM: Gomes 7, Zokora 7, Dawson 6, Woodgate 6, Assou-Ekotto 5 (O’Hara 78), Lennon 6 (Bale 66), Jenas 6, Modric 6, Bentley 7, Bent 6, Giovani 7 (Berbatov 66)
FROM:TIMESONLINE
ONE of the reasons Middlesbrough were willing to part with Jonathan Woodgate last season, apart from the small matter of £8m, was that they already had a replacement who could fill the gap. When his p r e d e c e s s o r s h o w e d u p yesterday in the colours of Tottenham Hotspur, David Wheater was able to assure his club that their faith in him had been justified.
On a miserable opening day for Spurs, when a late own-goal was the sum total of their efforts, and Dimitar Berbatov’s transfer to Manchester United appeared to move a step closer, the man who took full advantage of their fragile condition was Wheater.
Not only did he score the opening goal, he had another disallowed, and although the big centre-back was filling in at right-back, he did more than enough at the other end to thwart a Tottenham side who lacked an edge in the penalty area.
To make matters worse for a frustrated travelling support, the decisive goal, which came with four minutes left, was plundered by their former striker, Mido. When Gary O’Neil picked out new signing Didier Digard at the corner of the box, the substitute’s low shot across goal was turned in by a player who has bagged more injuries than goals since his move to the Riverside.
It was that kind of day for Tottenham, whose absentees were as interesting as their starting lineup. The presence of Berbatov on the bench seemed to reflect renewed speculation about his future.
His manager, Juande Ramos, denied reports that the Bulgarian had put in a transfer request, and insisted that he still wanted to keep him. “Of course,” he said. “I love great players. For the moment, he is a Spurs player. We are happy with him as part of the squad. There is nothing to say.”
The decision to start him on the bench made no sense. Either he is distracted, and not fit to play at all, or he is committed to Tottenham for 90 minutes, but as it was, he remained hidden until the Londoners’ patience ran out. “We opted for Giovani [Dos Santos] as I thought his speed would trouble Middlesbrough,” said Ramos. “However, as Middlesbrough tired, we decided to throw him on.”
Berbatov’s arrival on the pitch midway through the second half prompted an even mixture of booing and applause from the 4,000 travelling supporters. If this turns out to be his last appearance for a club who are also adjusting to life without Robbie Keane, the acquisition of Andrei Arshavin will become an urgent priority. Zenit St Petersburg are reported to have dropped their asking price for the Russia striker. “I cannot speak about players who are not currently in my squad,” said Ramos, when asked about the forward who came to prominence at Euro 2008.
Although Giovani had a bright game, Darren Bent was quiet, save for a late shot that flashed wide, and Spurs’ best efforts came from distance, usually courtesy of David Bentley’s boot. “It is always difficult when you have quite a few new players. Everyone takes time to settle into a new type of football, ” said Ramos.
Spurs lacked the freshness expected of a team that gave d e b u t s t o L u k a M o d r i c , Heurelho Gomes, Bentley and Giovani. The last two of those combined to create the visitors’ best effort of an otherwise pedestrian first half. The Mexican striker, playing deep behind Bent, danced past two opponents before laying the ball off to Bentley, who stepped inside to rush a hopeful shot wide from just outside the box.
Middlesbrough left Didier Digard and Marvin Emnes on the bench but they were sharper in key areas. When Tuncay dashed on to Wheater’s long ball, and lobbed it over Benoit Assou-Okotto, his pass to Afonso Alves gave the left-back just enough time to recover. With a sliding challenge, the Spurs defender deflected the shot over. Then, when Wheater arrived late in the box to crash a Stewart Downing corner into the net, referee Martin Atkin-son decided that he had pulled down Michael Dawson in the process.
There was a distinct improve-m e n t i n S p u r s a f t e r t h e interval, with crisper, more inventive passing, and another shot from Bentley to declare their intentions. This time, with his back to goal, the £15m signing from Blackburn accepted a pass from deep, needed only one touch to turn and steady himself, before delivering an outswinger that the goal-keeper parried wide.
Berbatov’s arrival briefly compounded Middlesbrough’s problems, most notably when his clever exchange with Jer-maine Jenas allowed the midfielder to test Brad Jones with a low shot, but as long as the home side have Stewart Downing in their midst, they will sustain a threat. With 17 minutes left, the England midfielder swung in a low cross to the front post, where a flick by Alves was tipped on to the bar by Gomes. It was no surprise to find the irrepressible Wheater, an eager handful at both ends, pouncing on to the loose ball and thrashing it over the line.
Middlesbrough announced yesterday that they had signed Justin Hoyte from Arsenal for £3m but it was too soon for him to make his debut, so Wheater played at right-back, and Robert Huth partnered Pogatetz in central defence. The big German had a sound enough game until stoppage time, when he rose to meet Bentley’s cross, but succeeded only in glancing it into the far corner.
It couldn’t take the sheen off a performance that had the Middlesbrough manager, Gareth Southgate, brimming with optimism. “There has been a real good feeling about the club preseason,” he said. “When there is that faith, you want to reward it with a performance and a result, and we did that on both counts.”
Star man:David Wheater (Middlesbrough)
MIDDLESBROUGH:Jones 6, Wheater 8, Huth 7, Pogatetz 6, Taylor 6, Aliadiere 6, O’Neil 7, Shawky 6, Downing 7, Alves 6 (Mido 76), Tuncay 6 (Digard 72)
TOTTENHAM: Gomes 7, Zokora 7, Dawson 6, Woodgate 6, Assou-Ekotto 5 (O’Hara 78), Lennon 6 (Bale 66), Jenas 6, Modric 6, Bentley 7, Bent 6, Giovani 7 (Berbatov 66)
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Caleb Folan’s late strike gives happy Hull the perfect start
Hull City 2 Fulham 1
Well, who’d have believed it. Very few in the KC Stadium after the first quarter of an hour or so, during which Fulham were so dominant it looked as though the Premier League newbies were going to be not so much put in their place as humiliated. Instead, out of nothing, Geovanni’s shot equalised Seol Ki-Hyeon’s early header, and the match took on a totally different aspect.
Seeing Seol outpace Michael Turner onto a long ball in the opening minute must have given the City fans immediate food for thought, but any apprehension they felt would have been quickly forgotten if Mark Schwarzer hadn’t dived to push Geovanni’s third-minute header onto his left-hand post after three minutes. The little Brazilian found himself unmarked when Marlon King headed a long cross back into the middle of the penalty area, and Schwarzer then had to recover quickly to block Ian Ashbee’s attempt to force home the rebound.
If that was encouraging for City, however, the next 15 minutes or so were torture. Phil Brown’s decision to field three players over 30 - Nick Barmby, Ashbee and George Boating - in midfield had looked risky beforehand, and the movement and neat passing of the Fulham quartet of Simon Davies, Jimmy Bullard, Danny Murphy and Zoltan Gera left the Tigers looking decidedly ponderous.
Uncertainty at the heart of the City defence didn’t help matters, and the goal they conceded in the eighth minute was horribly simple. Bullard pinged in a diagonal cross from the right, and Seol, having lost Anthony Gardner, rose to glance a firm header beyond Boaz Myhill.
More joy should have followed in short order for the away team. Ashbee blocked Davies’s close-range shot after Gardner had headed an attempted clearance straight to him, and John Pantsil, a summer signing from West Ham, nearly turned the resulting corner past Myhill.
Davies volleyed another corner just over, and Gera sliced a close-range shot wide with only the goalkeeper to beat, but to general disbelief, it was City who scored next. Geovanni picked up the ball 40 yards from goal, turned, ran forward, and with nobody deigning to put in a challenge, drove a left-footed shot beyond Schwarzer. It might turn out to be the most important goal City score all season.
Having been in danger of being overrun, City suddenly started to compete. Boateng put himself about as of old, and Fulham began to look uncertain, though had Gera not poked wide after Bobby Zamora flicked on Bullard’s cross shortly after half-time, they might have reestablished their early dominance.
Instead it was City who began to get on top. Turner headed a corner just over, and Geovanni, presented with golden chance by Barmby, contrived to volley wide from just six yards. Schwarzer had to save well from Richard Garcia, and with Fulham’s nervousness increasing, Brown introduced a touch more pace to City’s forward play in the form of Caleb Folan and Craig Fagan.
With eight minutes remaining, he had his reward. Fagan, chasing a long ball down the right, harried Paul Konchesky into a mistake, robbing the full-back as he stumbled, and with Schwarzer coming out to narrow the angle, squaring for Folan to sidefoot calmly home.
“There were moments in the first half that weren’t enjoyable, but goals change games and give players’ confidence,” said Brown. “For a period after they scored we were running around chasing shadows, and if they’d have got a second it might have been game over.
“But a little bit of magic from Geovanni got us back into the game, and I thought in the second half we fully deserved what we got.”
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson agreed, up to a point. “All credit to them for their second-half performance. We started brightly, and I hoped we’d play the same sort of football after the break, but they were more aggressive and we didn’t get our central midfielders on the ball.”
He couldn’t resist a dig though, suggesting “the weight of long balls” may have told on his team, and no doubt it won’t be the last this season. City won’t mind, as long as they are picking up points. “There may not be many times this season we’ll go behind and come back to win,” said Brown.
Star man:George Boateng (Hull)
HULL:Myhill 6, Ricketts 6, Turner 7, Gardner 5, Dawson 5, Garcia 6 (Fagan 73min), Boateng 8, Ashbee 7, Barmby 6 (Halmosi 61min), Geovanni 7, King 7 (Folan 69min).
FULHAM:Schwarzer 7, Pantsil 5, Hangeland 6, Hughes 6, Konchesky 5, Davies 6, Murphy 7 (Andreasen 85min), Bullard 7, Gera 6, Zamora 5 (Dempsey 81min), Seol 6 (Nevland 85min).
Referee:P Walton
Attendance:24,525
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Well, who’d have believed it. Very few in the KC Stadium after the first quarter of an hour or so, during which Fulham were so dominant it looked as though the Premier League newbies were going to be not so much put in their place as humiliated. Instead, out of nothing, Geovanni’s shot equalised Seol Ki-Hyeon’s early header, and the match took on a totally different aspect.
Seeing Seol outpace Michael Turner onto a long ball in the opening minute must have given the City fans immediate food for thought, but any apprehension they felt would have been quickly forgotten if Mark Schwarzer hadn’t dived to push Geovanni’s third-minute header onto his left-hand post after three minutes. The little Brazilian found himself unmarked when Marlon King headed a long cross back into the middle of the penalty area, and Schwarzer then had to recover quickly to block Ian Ashbee’s attempt to force home the rebound.
If that was encouraging for City, however, the next 15 minutes or so were torture. Phil Brown’s decision to field three players over 30 - Nick Barmby, Ashbee and George Boating - in midfield had looked risky beforehand, and the movement and neat passing of the Fulham quartet of Simon Davies, Jimmy Bullard, Danny Murphy and Zoltan Gera left the Tigers looking decidedly ponderous.
Uncertainty at the heart of the City defence didn’t help matters, and the goal they conceded in the eighth minute was horribly simple. Bullard pinged in a diagonal cross from the right, and Seol, having lost Anthony Gardner, rose to glance a firm header beyond Boaz Myhill.
More joy should have followed in short order for the away team. Ashbee blocked Davies’s close-range shot after Gardner had headed an attempted clearance straight to him, and John Pantsil, a summer signing from West Ham, nearly turned the resulting corner past Myhill.
Davies volleyed another corner just over, and Gera sliced a close-range shot wide with only the goalkeeper to beat, but to general disbelief, it was City who scored next. Geovanni picked up the ball 40 yards from goal, turned, ran forward, and with nobody deigning to put in a challenge, drove a left-footed shot beyond Schwarzer. It might turn out to be the most important goal City score all season.
Having been in danger of being overrun, City suddenly started to compete. Boateng put himself about as of old, and Fulham began to look uncertain, though had Gera not poked wide after Bobby Zamora flicked on Bullard’s cross shortly after half-time, they might have reestablished their early dominance.
Instead it was City who began to get on top. Turner headed a corner just over, and Geovanni, presented with golden chance by Barmby, contrived to volley wide from just six yards. Schwarzer had to save well from Richard Garcia, and with Fulham’s nervousness increasing, Brown introduced a touch more pace to City’s forward play in the form of Caleb Folan and Craig Fagan.
With eight minutes remaining, he had his reward. Fagan, chasing a long ball down the right, harried Paul Konchesky into a mistake, robbing the full-back as he stumbled, and with Schwarzer coming out to narrow the angle, squaring for Folan to sidefoot calmly home.
“There were moments in the first half that weren’t enjoyable, but goals change games and give players’ confidence,” said Brown. “For a period after they scored we were running around chasing shadows, and if they’d have got a second it might have been game over.
“But a little bit of magic from Geovanni got us back into the game, and I thought in the second half we fully deserved what we got.”
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson agreed, up to a point. “All credit to them for their second-half performance. We started brightly, and I hoped we’d play the same sort of football after the break, but they were more aggressive and we didn’t get our central midfielders on the ball.”
He couldn’t resist a dig though, suggesting “the weight of long balls” may have told on his team, and no doubt it won’t be the last this season. City won’t mind, as long as they are picking up points. “There may not be many times this season we’ll go behind and come back to win,” said Brown.
Star man:George Boateng (Hull)
HULL:Myhill 6, Ricketts 6, Turner 7, Gardner 5, Dawson 5, Garcia 6 (Fagan 73min), Boateng 8, Ashbee 7, Barmby 6 (Halmosi 61min), Geovanni 7, King 7 (Folan 69min).
FULHAM:Schwarzer 7, Pantsil 5, Hangeland 6, Hughes 6, Konchesky 5, Davies 6, Murphy 7 (Andreasen 85min), Bullard 7, Gera 6, Zamora 5 (Dempsey 81min), Seol 6 (Nevland 85min).
Referee:P Walton
Attendance:24,525
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Fernando Torres saves Rafa's day
Sunderland 0 Liverpool 1
FOR A long time it seemed the chant of the day would be “There’s only one Keano”. Sung with gleeful pointedness by Sunderland supporters as a disconsolate Robbie Keane was substituted, it was appropriate for a moment at which their manager was holding sway. It appeared Roy Keane would be the author of the game’s story, his summer recruiting having improved Sunderland’s technical levels to the extent they were holding Liverpool not through sweat or fortune, but footballing reasons. Then came a thunderbolt from a golden striker and from away fans a familiar refrain: “Fernando Torres, Liverpool’s Number Nine.”
For a year now Torres saving Liverpool has been a familiar phenomenon. So, too, is what followed after the game. Rafael Benitez came into a press conference and suggested his authority as manager is being compromised by elements above him in his club’s hierarchy but he did so in such obtuse fashion that the nature of his complaint was not entirely clear. He remains angry at not being allowed to sign Gareth Barry and suggested that, even now, the capture of the midfielder, priced at £18m by Aston Villa, might be possible.
“I was in contact with Tom Hicks (Liverpool’s co-owner) and I was told that if we sell one or two players we will have enough money to buy one good player. I have the support of at least one of the owners,” Benitez said. That begged the question whether he is being blocked by George Gillett, Liverpool’s other
owner, but if Benitez has a voodoo doll it is of Rick Parry. The plan to buy Barry and fund the transfer by selling Xabi Alonso is one Benitez cooked up in April. Does he blame Parry for it not being carried out? “The question is that we have to be quicker. I said these things four years ago and I continue thinking the same,” Benitez said.
He denied reports he is considering quitting over Gareth-gate and still hopes Barry can be signed, though it is understood Barry has become so exasperated he is ready to announce he is no longer interested in leaving Villa this season. To
thicken an already gloopy plot, Alonso played a key part in Liverpool escaping with full points. Left out of the starting line-up, he replaced Damien Plessis at half-time and improved his side’s performance before, in the 83rd minute, feeding Torres with a clever pass. Torres was still 30 yards out and with it all to do but Sunderland made the fatal mistake of backing off him. Torres advanced and with unerring accuracy and prodigious power lasered a shot past Craig Gordon. “We were tiring and I take responsibility for that. For all our good work it’s the last 15 minutes that really count,” said Roy Keane. “Torres was the difference, but that’s the Premier League.”
Liverpool so nearly had that familiar feeling of punctured title pretensions with a campaign barely underway. An anti-climactic performance was encapsulated when, at 0-0, after Gordon parried a deflected Dirk Kuyt shot Torres was set to score only for Robbie Keane to get in the way of his partner’s shot. Benitez recalled Sami Hyypia in an attempt to stabilise the back four but Liverpool’s defending remained skittish, their wide play deficient and Steven Gerrard and, until his goal, Torres, were subdued.
Sunderland began far smoother, with all their manager’s new recruits contributing to a composed performance. Most prominent was El Hadji Diouf, and after 12 minutes home fans bellowed “Diooooouf” as the Senegalese, with a double pirouette, left Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun on their backsides and crossed to create a chance for Daryl Murphy, who headed straight at Jose Reina.
Sunderland had pressed as well as they had passed but could not maintain energy levels as the second half progressed. They might have led when Teemu Tainio fed Diouf but the forward, off balance, could not direct a left-footed shot away from Reina.
Benayoun stretched Gordon with a low drive but Pascal Chimbonda blocked Robbie Keane’s attempt to score from the rebound. “When we played Liverpool last season I hoped we’d get a result. I woke up this morning and thought we’d get a result. That’s the difference. I think they’ll get back on the bus and be glad to see the back of us,” was the bittersweet verdict of Roy Keane.
SUNDERLAND: Gordon 6, Chimbonda, Nosworthy 6, Collins 6, Bardsley 6, Malbranque 6 (Edwards 73min), Tainio 7 (Whitehead 57min, 6), Reid 6, Richardson 7, Diouf 8, Murphy 6
LIVERPOOL: Reina 6, Arbeloa 4, Carragher 6, Hyypia 6, Dossena 6, Kuyt 5, Gerrard 5, Plessis 5 (Alonso h-t, 7), Benayoun 5 (Aurelio 81), Keane 6 (El Zhar 77min), Torres 7
FROM:TIMESONLINES
FOR A long time it seemed the chant of the day would be “There’s only one Keano”. Sung with gleeful pointedness by Sunderland supporters as a disconsolate Robbie Keane was substituted, it was appropriate for a moment at which their manager was holding sway. It appeared Roy Keane would be the author of the game’s story, his summer recruiting having improved Sunderland’s technical levels to the extent they were holding Liverpool not through sweat or fortune, but footballing reasons. Then came a thunderbolt from a golden striker and from away fans a familiar refrain: “Fernando Torres, Liverpool’s Number Nine.”
For a year now Torres saving Liverpool has been a familiar phenomenon. So, too, is what followed after the game. Rafael Benitez came into a press conference and suggested his authority as manager is being compromised by elements above him in his club’s hierarchy but he did so in such obtuse fashion that the nature of his complaint was not entirely clear. He remains angry at not being allowed to sign Gareth Barry and suggested that, even now, the capture of the midfielder, priced at £18m by Aston Villa, might be possible.
“I was in contact with Tom Hicks (Liverpool’s co-owner) and I was told that if we sell one or two players we will have enough money to buy one good player. I have the support of at least one of the owners,” Benitez said. That begged the question whether he is being blocked by George Gillett, Liverpool’s other
owner, but if Benitez has a voodoo doll it is of Rick Parry. The plan to buy Barry and fund the transfer by selling Xabi Alonso is one Benitez cooked up in April. Does he blame Parry for it not being carried out? “The question is that we have to be quicker. I said these things four years ago and I continue thinking the same,” Benitez said.
He denied reports he is considering quitting over Gareth-gate and still hopes Barry can be signed, though it is understood Barry has become so exasperated he is ready to announce he is no longer interested in leaving Villa this season. To
thicken an already gloopy plot, Alonso played a key part in Liverpool escaping with full points. Left out of the starting line-up, he replaced Damien Plessis at half-time and improved his side’s performance before, in the 83rd minute, feeding Torres with a clever pass. Torres was still 30 yards out and with it all to do but Sunderland made the fatal mistake of backing off him. Torres advanced and with unerring accuracy and prodigious power lasered a shot past Craig Gordon. “We were tiring and I take responsibility for that. For all our good work it’s the last 15 minutes that really count,” said Roy Keane. “Torres was the difference, but that’s the Premier League.”
Liverpool so nearly had that familiar feeling of punctured title pretensions with a campaign barely underway. An anti-climactic performance was encapsulated when, at 0-0, after Gordon parried a deflected Dirk Kuyt shot Torres was set to score only for Robbie Keane to get in the way of his partner’s shot. Benitez recalled Sami Hyypia in an attempt to stabilise the back four but Liverpool’s defending remained skittish, their wide play deficient and Steven Gerrard and, until his goal, Torres, were subdued.
Sunderland began far smoother, with all their manager’s new recruits contributing to a composed performance. Most prominent was El Hadji Diouf, and after 12 minutes home fans bellowed “Diooooouf” as the Senegalese, with a double pirouette, left Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun on their backsides and crossed to create a chance for Daryl Murphy, who headed straight at Jose Reina.
Sunderland had pressed as well as they had passed but could not maintain energy levels as the second half progressed. They might have led when Teemu Tainio fed Diouf but the forward, off balance, could not direct a left-footed shot away from Reina.
Benayoun stretched Gordon with a low drive but Pascal Chimbonda blocked Robbie Keane’s attempt to score from the rebound. “When we played Liverpool last season I hoped we’d get a result. I woke up this morning and thought we’d get a result. That’s the difference. I think they’ll get back on the bus and be glad to see the back of us,” was the bittersweet verdict of Roy Keane.
SUNDERLAND: Gordon 6, Chimbonda, Nosworthy 6, Collins 6, Bardsley 6, Malbranque 6 (Edwards 73min), Tainio 7 (Whitehead 57min, 6), Reid 6, Richardson 7, Diouf 8, Murphy 6
LIVERPOOL: Reina 6, Arbeloa 4, Carragher 6, Hyypia 6, Dossena 6, Kuyt 5, Gerrard 5, Plessis 5 (Alonso h-t, 7), Benayoun 5 (Aurelio 81), Keane 6 (El Zhar 77min), Torres 7
FROM:TIMESONLINES
An Ince perfect start for Rovers
AFTER THE remarkable way he transformed Macclesfield and Milton Keynes, his avowed aim of turning Blackburn Rovers into the Harlem Globetrotters of the Premier League looks like being a doddle for Paul Ince. The man who carries a magic wand in his kit bag wore a grin the size of the Mersey after collecting his first three points via a dramatic late winner from Andre Ooijer — the only Dutchman whom one could never describe as of the flying variety.
Blackburn and Ince thoroughly deserved their victory, which silenced claims that some of the players were unhappy with the Guv’nor. “The crap they write in papers,” was how Ince dismissed it and though much has been made of the fact that he is only the third black man to manage a Premier League club, he understands that the only real black and white issues in football appear in the win and loss columns.
Everton manager David Moyes will be disappointed that his team were booed off having spent the summer transfer window shopping rather than diving through it feet first, leaving him so short of personnel that he was forced to give a debut to a raft of youngsters, including 16-year-old Jose Baxter and 17-year-old Jack Rodwell. Moyes said: “I told those boys they should be proud of themselves for making the bench. But it’s hard when you have to send on a 16-year-old to try and win you a Premier League game.”
Ince’s Blackburn are another squad who defy the common belief that every Premier League club is awash with transfer funds. Long gone are the days when Jack Walker spent most of his days signing million pound cheques, with Ince forced to sell goalkeeper Brad Friedel and striker David Bentley and fearing Roque Santa Cruz could be next. He replaced the popular Friedel with axed England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who on debut conceded he was upset with Everton’s equaliser.
Despite his lack of buying power, Ince has promised to sprinkle a little stardust over Blackburn, who were compared in style to their equally unloved neighbours Bolton Wanderers.
Here they proved they are ready to let some light into their game with David Dunn and Morten Gamst Pedersen their sunniest midfield players. Dunn, who has suffered bad luck with injuries,opened the scoring with a jinking run, a cut inside and a lovely left-foot delivery into the corner of Tim Howard’s net.
Everton, however, are always a force to be reckoned with at Goodison, even when they appear to be playing like drains. Two minutes into first-half stoppage time and with Moyes preparing to deliver his first major rollicking of the season, Mikel Arteta fired the equaliser from a difficult angle just outside the box.
Everton suddenly found that the headwind they had appeared to be playing against in the first half had turned into a tail wind. Yakubu, rising magnificently at the far post, connected with Arteta’s wonderful cross and found the net. Everton who won more home games last season than any side outside the top four, appeared to have pulled another from the fire.
Within two minutes, however Blackburn were level, Joleon Lescott allowing Santa Cruz to get goal side from Stephen Warnock’s long hoof forward which came from last season’s playing manual. So did the cool finish from Santa Cruz, hoping to better his 23 goals of last term.
A match that had started at pre-season friendly pace developed into one of those frantic fencing matches for all three points that makes the Premier League such a riveting competition. Baxter, who only signed professional forms with Everton two weeks ago, almost won it with a header over the top a minute from time. But in stoppage time Ooijer claimed that honour after Nelsen’s header from Warnock’s free kick came back off a post.
EVERTON: Howard 7, Neville 5, Yobo 6, Lescott 5, Valente 6 (Baxter 78min) Arteta 8, Jagielka 6, Baines 6, Rodwell 6, Osman 7, Yakubu 7.
BLACKBURN: Robinson 6, Ooijer 6, Samba 7, Nelsen 6, Warnock 6, Reid 6, Mokoena 6, Dunn 7 (Tugay 90min), Pedersen 7 (Treacy 76min), Santa Cruz 7, Roberts 6 (McCarthy 83min)
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Blackburn and Ince thoroughly deserved their victory, which silenced claims that some of the players were unhappy with the Guv’nor. “The crap they write in papers,” was how Ince dismissed it and though much has been made of the fact that he is only the third black man to manage a Premier League club, he understands that the only real black and white issues in football appear in the win and loss columns.
Everton manager David Moyes will be disappointed that his team were booed off having spent the summer transfer window shopping rather than diving through it feet first, leaving him so short of personnel that he was forced to give a debut to a raft of youngsters, including 16-year-old Jose Baxter and 17-year-old Jack Rodwell. Moyes said: “I told those boys they should be proud of themselves for making the bench. But it’s hard when you have to send on a 16-year-old to try and win you a Premier League game.”
Ince’s Blackburn are another squad who defy the common belief that every Premier League club is awash with transfer funds. Long gone are the days when Jack Walker spent most of his days signing million pound cheques, with Ince forced to sell goalkeeper Brad Friedel and striker David Bentley and fearing Roque Santa Cruz could be next. He replaced the popular Friedel with axed England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who on debut conceded he was upset with Everton’s equaliser.
Despite his lack of buying power, Ince has promised to sprinkle a little stardust over Blackburn, who were compared in style to their equally unloved neighbours Bolton Wanderers.
Here they proved they are ready to let some light into their game with David Dunn and Morten Gamst Pedersen their sunniest midfield players. Dunn, who has suffered bad luck with injuries,opened the scoring with a jinking run, a cut inside and a lovely left-foot delivery into the corner of Tim Howard’s net.
Everton, however, are always a force to be reckoned with at Goodison, even when they appear to be playing like drains. Two minutes into first-half stoppage time and with Moyes preparing to deliver his first major rollicking of the season, Mikel Arteta fired the equaliser from a difficult angle just outside the box.
Everton suddenly found that the headwind they had appeared to be playing against in the first half had turned into a tail wind. Yakubu, rising magnificently at the far post, connected with Arteta’s wonderful cross and found the net. Everton who won more home games last season than any side outside the top four, appeared to have pulled another from the fire.
Within two minutes, however Blackburn were level, Joleon Lescott allowing Santa Cruz to get goal side from Stephen Warnock’s long hoof forward which came from last season’s playing manual. So did the cool finish from Santa Cruz, hoping to better his 23 goals of last term.
A match that had started at pre-season friendly pace developed into one of those frantic fencing matches for all three points that makes the Premier League such a riveting competition. Baxter, who only signed professional forms with Everton two weeks ago, almost won it with a header over the top a minute from time. But in stoppage time Ooijer claimed that honour after Nelsen’s header from Warnock’s free kick came back off a post.
EVERTON: Howard 7, Neville 5, Yobo 6, Lescott 5, Valente 6 (Baxter 78min) Arteta 8, Jagielka 6, Baines 6, Rodwell 6, Osman 7, Yakubu 7.
BLACKBURN: Robinson 6, Ooijer 6, Samba 7, Nelsen 6, Warnock 6, Reid 6, Mokoena 6, Dunn 7 (Tugay 90min), Pedersen 7 (Treacy 76min), Santa Cruz 7, Roberts 6 (McCarthy 83min)
FROM:TIMESONLINE
Samir Nasri secures victory for Arsenal
ARSENE Wenger claims Arsenal will win the title if they start this season the way they did last year, when they won six of their first seven games, but they will have to play a lot better than this to finish ahead of Manchester United and Chelsea.
Wenger’s team led the table last Christmas, and he says: “I feel we were well equipped for a challenge last time, and we were very close to doing it. If we can have as good a start as we did last year, then I believe we will win it this time.”
Yet when the curtain went up yesterday, the performance fell flat. West Brom were there for the taking and might have been 4-0 down before their return to the Premier League was 20 minutes old, but the Gunners’ shooting was of the blunderbuss variety, so much so that Emmanuel Adebayor, of double-your-money notoriety, was booed when he missed the target for the umpteenth time late on.
Albion might have been overwhelmed in the first half but they dug deep and put up a creditable showing in the second
For the home crowd, it was a curate’s egg of an afternoon, good and bad in parts. There was much to admire in the midfield intelligence, enterprise and quick feet of Samir Nasri, the £11m summer recruit from Marseilles, whose match-win-ner was the fastest goal on debut by an Arsenal player in Premier League history.
O n t h e d e b i t s i d e , Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner looked as if they wouldn’t have scored had they still been playing this morning. Wenger took comfort from the fact that it is far too early to be making meaningful judgments, that his team had a tough match against FC Twente in Champions League qualifying last Wednesday, and that improvement is all but inevitable when the new players are fully integrated and Cesc Fabregas is fit again.
West Brom are the only team in the top division without shirt sponsors, and it is not only cynics who would suggest you could safely put yours on them going back down again. That certainly looked to be the way of it when Nasri scored after just three minutes and 42 seconds, sidefooting home Denilson’s cut-back from the byline on the left. Theo Walcott would have made it 2-0 in the sixth minute but for Carl Hoefkens’ headed clearance, William Gallas was desperately close from distance after 10 and Bacary Sagna had a 25-yarder deflected wide in the 18th.
Albion, comfortably the best team in the Championship last season, seemed destined to be so again in 12 months’ time. To their credit, they displayed a collective spirit that should serve them well in what will be a difficult winter, and even threatened to equalise before the interval, when South Korea’s Do-Heon Kim, who was a constructive influence, stretched Manuel Almunia to his fingertips with a menacing shot from 18 yards.
Arsenal remained dominant, with Nasri ploughing a productive furrow on the left. He replicates the distributive excellence of Fabregas, who is expected to be absent for another fortnight with hamstring trouble, but Wenger, more than any of his peers, will tell you that you can’t have too many good footballers.
Adebayor was twice off target with near-identical shots and he was not the only one. Walcott’s passing was hit and miss and Bendtner’s touch on one occasion bordered on the elephantine.
Wenger admitted that when it remained 1-0 deep into the second half he feared the worst. “I almost felt we deserved to be punished”, he said. They nearly were. Almunia saved with his legs from Ishmael Miller and Paul Robinson, following in, would have scored but for Johan Djourou’s goalline clearance.
Arsenal sent on Robin Van Persie and he threatened to score twice in the last 10 minutes, but West Brom defended well. Their manager, Tony Mowbray, said: “I don’t take any solace from losing 1-0, but I thought we were competitive. We’ve earned the right to be in the Premier League and we’ve got to make sure we stay here. The transfer window has two weeks to go, we’ll add some strength and be a better unit for it. I hope to bring in another four players.”
Wenger said: “We’ve only just started the season and no, I’m not worried we weren’t sharp enough to finish them off. We expected them to crumble but they never did.”
Of Arsenal’s title prospects, he added: “We got 83 points last time, which would win you the league anywhere else in the world, and we believe we can do better. We finished only four points behind Man United and should have won a trophy for the most unlucky team because of the bad injuries we had.” ARSENAL:Almunia 6, Sagna 6, Nasri 8, Gallas 7, Walcott 6 (Toure 72min), Denilson 6, Djourou 7, Clichy 6, Adebayor 5, Bendtner 6 (Van Persie 69min), Eboue 6 WEST BROM:Carson 6, Hoefkens 6, Robinson 7, Cech 5 (MacDonald 67min) , Barnett 6, Greening 7, Miller 5 (Bednar 73min), Brunt 5 (Beattie 80min), Do-Heon 7, Meite 6, Morrison 6
FROM:TIMES
Wenger’s team led the table last Christmas, and he says: “I feel we were well equipped for a challenge last time, and we were very close to doing it. If we can have as good a start as we did last year, then I believe we will win it this time.”
Yet when the curtain went up yesterday, the performance fell flat. West Brom were there for the taking and might have been 4-0 down before their return to the Premier League was 20 minutes old, but the Gunners’ shooting was of the blunderbuss variety, so much so that Emmanuel Adebayor, of double-your-money notoriety, was booed when he missed the target for the umpteenth time late on.
Albion might have been overwhelmed in the first half but they dug deep and put up a creditable showing in the second
For the home crowd, it was a curate’s egg of an afternoon, good and bad in parts. There was much to admire in the midfield intelligence, enterprise and quick feet of Samir Nasri, the £11m summer recruit from Marseilles, whose match-win-ner was the fastest goal on debut by an Arsenal player in Premier League history.
O n t h e d e b i t s i d e , Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner looked as if they wouldn’t have scored had they still been playing this morning. Wenger took comfort from the fact that it is far too early to be making meaningful judgments, that his team had a tough match against FC Twente in Champions League qualifying last Wednesday, and that improvement is all but inevitable when the new players are fully integrated and Cesc Fabregas is fit again.
West Brom are the only team in the top division without shirt sponsors, and it is not only cynics who would suggest you could safely put yours on them going back down again. That certainly looked to be the way of it when Nasri scored after just three minutes and 42 seconds, sidefooting home Denilson’s cut-back from the byline on the left. Theo Walcott would have made it 2-0 in the sixth minute but for Carl Hoefkens’ headed clearance, William Gallas was desperately close from distance after 10 and Bacary Sagna had a 25-yarder deflected wide in the 18th.
Albion, comfortably the best team in the Championship last season, seemed destined to be so again in 12 months’ time. To their credit, they displayed a collective spirit that should serve them well in what will be a difficult winter, and even threatened to equalise before the interval, when South Korea’s Do-Heon Kim, who was a constructive influence, stretched Manuel Almunia to his fingertips with a menacing shot from 18 yards.
Arsenal remained dominant, with Nasri ploughing a productive furrow on the left. He replicates the distributive excellence of Fabregas, who is expected to be absent for another fortnight with hamstring trouble, but Wenger, more than any of his peers, will tell you that you can’t have too many good footballers.
Adebayor was twice off target with near-identical shots and he was not the only one. Walcott’s passing was hit and miss and Bendtner’s touch on one occasion bordered on the elephantine.
Wenger admitted that when it remained 1-0 deep into the second half he feared the worst. “I almost felt we deserved to be punished”, he said. They nearly were. Almunia saved with his legs from Ishmael Miller and Paul Robinson, following in, would have scored but for Johan Djourou’s goalline clearance.
Arsenal sent on Robin Van Persie and he threatened to score twice in the last 10 minutes, but West Brom defended well. Their manager, Tony Mowbray, said: “I don’t take any solace from losing 1-0, but I thought we were competitive. We’ve earned the right to be in the Premier League and we’ve got to make sure we stay here. The transfer window has two weeks to go, we’ll add some strength and be a better unit for it. I hope to bring in another four players.”
Wenger said: “We’ve only just started the season and no, I’m not worried we weren’t sharp enough to finish them off. We expected them to crumble but they never did.”
Of Arsenal’s title prospects, he added: “We got 83 points last time, which would win you the league anywhere else in the world, and we believe we can do better. We finished only four points behind Man United and should have won a trophy for the most unlucky team because of the bad injuries we had.” ARSENAL:Almunia 6, Sagna 6, Nasri 8, Gallas 7, Walcott 6 (Toure 72min), Denilson 6, Djourou 7, Clichy 6, Adebayor 5, Bendtner 6 (Van Persie 69min), Eboue 6 WEST BROM:Carson 6, Hoefkens 6, Robinson 7, Cech 5 (MacDonald 67min) , Barnett 6, Greening 7, Miller 5 (Bednar 73min), Brunt 5 (Beattie 80min), Do-Heon 7, Meite 6, Morrison 6
FROM:TIMES
Thứ Sáu, 15 tháng 8, 2008
Gabriel Agbonlahor signs new Aston Villa deal
Gabriel Agbonlahor has committed his future to Aston Villa by agreeing a new long-term contract at the club.
The England Under-21 forward has signed a new four-year deal which will keep him at Villa Park until June 2012.
Agbonlahor, 21, has followed the decision of John Carew, who signed until 2011 yesterday, by putting pen to paper on a new deal.
FROM:TIMES
The England Under-21 forward has signed a new four-year deal which will keep him at Villa Park until June 2012.
Agbonlahor, 21, has followed the decision of John Carew, who signed until 2011 yesterday, by putting pen to paper on a new deal.
FROM:TIMES
Wayne Rooney in contention but Dimitar Berbatov deal still on ice
Manchester United are facing up to frustration in their attempt to beat today's deadline to sign Dimitar Berbatov in time for the player to make his debut against Newcastle United on Sunday, but Wayne Rooney has informed Sir Alex Ferguson that he is fit and available for selection, having made an encouraging recovery from the mystery virus that laid him low after their pre-season trip to Nigeria.
Rooney contracted the virus while in Abuja, where United played a lucrative exhibition match against Portsmouth on July 27, and was unable to train for ten days on the squad's return to Manchester. Ferguson suggested that Rooney had little chance of being fit for the start of the new Barclays Premier League season, but the word from United's Carrington training ground is that the forward has trained fully this week and undertaken additional sessions every afternoon to build up his fitness.
As is his way, Rooney has been pleading with Ferguson to select him against Newcastle at Old Trafford, but the United manager will consult his medical staff before making a final decision. Rooney is firmly expected to be named in the 18-man squad, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha injured, but he must wait to learn whether he will join Carlos Tévez in the starting line-up or be named among the substitutes.
United had hoped to sign Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur this week, with a view to playing him against Newcastle if necessary, but Premier League rules stipulate that all the relevant paperwork must be processed and filed to the league's headquarters by noon on Friday for a transferred player to be eligible to represent his new club that weekend. In cases such as this, where international clearance from the Bulgarian FA would be required, that deadline can be extended to 5pm at the league's discretion.
As it is, the paperwork stage remains some way off, with United still to break Tottenham's resistance over a transfer fee and Barcelona lurking in the background.
Tottenham, who were irked this week by premature reports that a deal had been struck, were eager to make clear that they have not received a formal bid for Berbatov since rejecting United's opening £20.5 million offer last month, but negotiations are continuing through intermediaries, including Emil Dantchev, the player's agent. Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, wants £32 million for Berbatov, but United expect to complete a deal for approximately £28 million sooner rather than later.
Berbatov trained with his Tottenham team-mates yesterday and Juande Ramos, the head coach, has refused to rule out the forward playing away to Middlesbrough tomorrow. “I will wait until the final training session and see how he is,” Ramos said. “He's an excellent professional and he has been getting on with things in training.”
Privately, Ramos is resigned to losing Berbatov, but publicly he sounded a different note. “Dimitar is a great player and is carrying himself superbly through this and we want him to stay,” Ramos said yesterday. “I have no preference one way or another. You have to go with what is happening.”
With Robbie Keane having joined Liverpool for £20.3 million, Berbatov's departure would leave Darren Bent as the only senior centre forward at White Hart Lane, but Ramos said: “It is nothing to panic about. We work without rest to look for players and we have always known the deadline day is August 31. We are working calmly in the background on one or two things. We prefer to work with as much discretion as we can.”
Edwin van der Sar, the United goalkeeper, has followed Ryan Giggs by indicating that this season could be his last as a player. The goalkeeper, who will face competition this season from Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak, will wait until December, by which time he will be 38, to decide whether to retire when his contract expires next June.
FROM:TIMES
Rooney contracted the virus while in Abuja, where United played a lucrative exhibition match against Portsmouth on July 27, and was unable to train for ten days on the squad's return to Manchester. Ferguson suggested that Rooney had little chance of being fit for the start of the new Barclays Premier League season, but the word from United's Carrington training ground is that the forward has trained fully this week and undertaken additional sessions every afternoon to build up his fitness.
As is his way, Rooney has been pleading with Ferguson to select him against Newcastle at Old Trafford, but the United manager will consult his medical staff before making a final decision. Rooney is firmly expected to be named in the 18-man squad, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha injured, but he must wait to learn whether he will join Carlos Tévez in the starting line-up or be named among the substitutes.
United had hoped to sign Berbatov from Tottenham Hotspur this week, with a view to playing him against Newcastle if necessary, but Premier League rules stipulate that all the relevant paperwork must be processed and filed to the league's headquarters by noon on Friday for a transferred player to be eligible to represent his new club that weekend. In cases such as this, where international clearance from the Bulgarian FA would be required, that deadline can be extended to 5pm at the league's discretion.
As it is, the paperwork stage remains some way off, with United still to break Tottenham's resistance over a transfer fee and Barcelona lurking in the background.
Tottenham, who were irked this week by premature reports that a deal had been struck, were eager to make clear that they have not received a formal bid for Berbatov since rejecting United's opening £20.5 million offer last month, but negotiations are continuing through intermediaries, including Emil Dantchev, the player's agent. Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, wants £32 million for Berbatov, but United expect to complete a deal for approximately £28 million sooner rather than later.
Berbatov trained with his Tottenham team-mates yesterday and Juande Ramos, the head coach, has refused to rule out the forward playing away to Middlesbrough tomorrow. “I will wait until the final training session and see how he is,” Ramos said. “He's an excellent professional and he has been getting on with things in training.”
Privately, Ramos is resigned to losing Berbatov, but publicly he sounded a different note. “Dimitar is a great player and is carrying himself superbly through this and we want him to stay,” Ramos said yesterday. “I have no preference one way or another. You have to go with what is happening.”
With Robbie Keane having joined Liverpool for £20.3 million, Berbatov's departure would leave Darren Bent as the only senior centre forward at White Hart Lane, but Ramos said: “It is nothing to panic about. We work without rest to look for players and we have always known the deadline day is August 31. We are working calmly in the background on one or two things. We prefer to work with as much discretion as we can.”
Edwin van der Sar, the United goalkeeper, has followed Ryan Giggs by indicating that this season could be his last as a player. The goalkeeper, who will face competition this season from Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak, will wait until December, by which time he will be 38, to decide whether to retire when his contract expires next June.
FROM:TIMES
Chelsea plot record deal to sign Kaka in 2009
Chelsea are determined to complete the world-record signing of Kaká, but they will have to wait until next year to do so. Chelsea have not given up hope of completing the world-record signing of Kaká from AC Milan, but have resigned themselves to having to wait until next year to secure his signature. The club view the pursuit of the Brazilian as a long-term project, similar to the one that led to them luring Andriy Shevchenko from the San Siro two years ago, and, after being rejected this summer, will make a renewed attempt to secure their dream signing in 12 months' time.
The Times has learnt that Chelsea are working with several leading agents on a deal that could take more than a year to come to fruition. Milan have rejected several polite inquiries this summer and insisted that Kaká is not for sale at any price, but they indicated that they may be willing to do business in the future.
Chelsea believe that they have a chance of signing the man that Roman Abramovich, the club's owner, has coveted above all others since Shevchenko turned out to be such a spectacular flop, but he will not come cheaply. Kaká signed a new five-year contract worth £6.5million a year after tax in April, with its value rising every year until it expires in 2013.
Chelsea would have to smash their wage ceiling, based around the £135,000 a week earned by John Terry, to sign Kaká, which could cause problems with others in the dressing-room, particularly because Frank Lampard has just ended more than two years of tortuous negotiations by signing a deal that places him on the captain's level.
Adriano Galliani, the Milan vice-president, said last month that they had rejected an “enormous offer” from Chelsea for Kaká and although it was denied at Stamford Bridge, an informal inquiry was made. For all the public bluster emanating from the San Siro around such subjects as Kaká, Shevchenko and Didier Drogba, the two clubs have a good relationship and will continue to talk - directly and through intermediaries - throughout the coming season.
While even Abramovich has a budget, Chelsea have made it clear that they judge each case on its merits and are prepared to pay huge sums for the right player, with any potential transfer fee likely to be far in excess of the £48million that Real Madrid paid Juventus for Zinédine Zidane seven years ago.
Given his relationship with the club and reputation for loyalty, Kaká will not agitate for a transfer, however, and would move only with Milan's blessing.
Chelsea's confidence springs from their close relationship with Milan and the fact that similar long-term tactics paid off in their courtship of Shevchenko, who was also part of the Milan family and whom they tried to sign in three successive summers before the Italian club relented.
The presence of Luiz Felipe Scolari as manager at Stamford Bridge also gives them an advantage because Kaká has expressed an interest in being reunited with the man who named him in his victorious World Cup-winning Brazil squad at the age of 19.
Chelsea's only remaining transfer target before the transfer window closes on August 31 is Robinho, an international team-mate of Kaká, Scolari being content to start the season with his existing squad if the club fail to agree terms with Real. Chelsea had a £19.7million bid rejected last week but are confident of success, particularly as the player's contract talks at Real appear to have stalled.
“He's the type of player who brings some difference to Chelsea and if we can bring that one off then he would add to the squad,” Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, said. “If it doesn't, then we're not going to win or lose because of Robinho.”
Scolari has also made it clear that he wants to hold on to fringe players such as Branislav Ivanovic, who has attracted interest from Milan, with Claudio Pizarro and Juliano Belletti the only players who will be allowed to leave. Shaun Wright-Phillips could be sold if Robinho is signed, but only for the right price, and there are doubts as to whether Portsmouth are willing to match the club's valuation.
Chelsea can look forward to receiving an unusual windfall after Fifa ordered Adrian Mutu, their former striker, to pay the club £13.68 million in compensation for a breach of contract. The Romania player was sacked after testing positive for cocaine four years ago and has received the biggest fine given to a footballer, calculated by Fifa’s dispute resolution chamber according to the remaining value of his contract. Mutu is likely to appeal.
Chelsea were given another boost yesterday when Roy Keane tipped them to win the title. “This year for me it’s Chelsea,” the Sunderland manager said. “I always felt that United would do it last year, but I fancy Chelsea this time.
“There’s no African Nations Cup, they’ve got a new manager, they’ve bought one or two new players and for all the ups and downs last year at the club, they still nearly nicked it. If United get a top, top striker they’ve got a chance, but my gut feeling this year would be Chelsea.”
FROM:TIMES
The Times has learnt that Chelsea are working with several leading agents on a deal that could take more than a year to come to fruition. Milan have rejected several polite inquiries this summer and insisted that Kaká is not for sale at any price, but they indicated that they may be willing to do business in the future.
Chelsea believe that they have a chance of signing the man that Roman Abramovich, the club's owner, has coveted above all others since Shevchenko turned out to be such a spectacular flop, but he will not come cheaply. Kaká signed a new five-year contract worth £6.5million a year after tax in April, with its value rising every year until it expires in 2013.
Chelsea would have to smash their wage ceiling, based around the £135,000 a week earned by John Terry, to sign Kaká, which could cause problems with others in the dressing-room, particularly because Frank Lampard has just ended more than two years of tortuous negotiations by signing a deal that places him on the captain's level.
Adriano Galliani, the Milan vice-president, said last month that they had rejected an “enormous offer” from Chelsea for Kaká and although it was denied at Stamford Bridge, an informal inquiry was made. For all the public bluster emanating from the San Siro around such subjects as Kaká, Shevchenko and Didier Drogba, the two clubs have a good relationship and will continue to talk - directly and through intermediaries - throughout the coming season.
While even Abramovich has a budget, Chelsea have made it clear that they judge each case on its merits and are prepared to pay huge sums for the right player, with any potential transfer fee likely to be far in excess of the £48million that Real Madrid paid Juventus for Zinédine Zidane seven years ago.
Given his relationship with the club and reputation for loyalty, Kaká will not agitate for a transfer, however, and would move only with Milan's blessing.
Chelsea's confidence springs from their close relationship with Milan and the fact that similar long-term tactics paid off in their courtship of Shevchenko, who was also part of the Milan family and whom they tried to sign in three successive summers before the Italian club relented.
The presence of Luiz Felipe Scolari as manager at Stamford Bridge also gives them an advantage because Kaká has expressed an interest in being reunited with the man who named him in his victorious World Cup-winning Brazil squad at the age of 19.
Chelsea's only remaining transfer target before the transfer window closes on August 31 is Robinho, an international team-mate of Kaká, Scolari being content to start the season with his existing squad if the club fail to agree terms with Real. Chelsea had a £19.7million bid rejected last week but are confident of success, particularly as the player's contract talks at Real appear to have stalled.
“He's the type of player who brings some difference to Chelsea and if we can bring that one off then he would add to the squad,” Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, said. “If it doesn't, then we're not going to win or lose because of Robinho.”
Scolari has also made it clear that he wants to hold on to fringe players such as Branislav Ivanovic, who has attracted interest from Milan, with Claudio Pizarro and Juliano Belletti the only players who will be allowed to leave. Shaun Wright-Phillips could be sold if Robinho is signed, but only for the right price, and there are doubts as to whether Portsmouth are willing to match the club's valuation.
Chelsea can look forward to receiving an unusual windfall after Fifa ordered Adrian Mutu, their former striker, to pay the club £13.68 million in compensation for a breach of contract. The Romania player was sacked after testing positive for cocaine four years ago and has received the biggest fine given to a footballer, calculated by Fifa’s dispute resolution chamber according to the remaining value of his contract. Mutu is likely to appeal.
Chelsea were given another boost yesterday when Roy Keane tipped them to win the title. “This year for me it’s Chelsea,” the Sunderland manager said. “I always felt that United would do it last year, but I fancy Chelsea this time.
“There’s no African Nations Cup, they’ve got a new manager, they’ve bought one or two new players and for all the ups and downs last year at the club, they still nearly nicked it. If United get a top, top striker they’ve got a chance, but my gut feeling this year would be Chelsea.”
FROM:TIMES
Can Rafael Benitez end Liverpool's pain?
Sir Alex Ferguson’s first competitive game against Liverpool as a manager was in 1980, when in charge of Aberdeen. He went to Anfield to scout his opponents and met Bill Shankly there. “So you’re down to have a look at our great team?” Shankly growled. “Aye, they all try that.” Now it is Ferguson who is the great Scottish guru of football management and others — especially, reluctantly, wincingly, Liverpool — must bow to him.
He famously remarked in an interview that when he arrived at Manchester United “my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool off their f****** perch. And you can print that”. He has met the challenge, and how — racking up 10 league titles in 16 seasons to leave United on 17, one championship away from Liverpool’s once untouchable record of 18.
Forget LFC, a United title No 18 could send the Liver Birds tumbling from their perches down at the Albert Dock, the event which, in myth, heralds the doom of Merseyside and its people. Ferguson shrugged when asked about the 18th title and another Anfield record within his grasp, that of Bob Paisley being the only manager (from any country) to win three European Cups. “Ah’m no thinking about that,” Ferguson said. They are, big time, along the M62.
Liverpool have had six managers since Ferguson swept into Old Trafford in 1986. Chelsea are on their 12th and Arsenal six, and Ferguson’s success has Arsène Wenger and, before he has even filled a Premier League dugout, Big Phil Scolari under pressure.
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Premier League preview 2008/9
It's going to be a bumpy ride
It is, however, Rafael Benitez feeling the greatest heat. Entering his fifth season with Liverpool, he is at the point in the cycle where goodwill and prior achievement evaporated for Gerard Houllier to leave the Frenchman vulnerable to a sacking when targets were not delivered. Those, for the Kop, are: 1. the league title, 2. the league title, 3. the league title, just as has been the case since 1990, the last time Liverpool were champions. “This season it [the barren run] will stop,” reads one blog on a well-known fansite. “I’ve never been more confident of anything in my life.”
Could this be Liverpool’s year? Benitez has fanned hopes by announcing he has his best squad and best chance in the league since coming to Anfield. “I think we’re better than last season. Every year the expectations are similar. You want to improve, you want to be contenders, you want to be closer to winning the title. I think we have the quality to do that but you never know because the others are strong. United and Chelsea are the best teams in Europe, so it will be difficult, but we will try,” he said.
Kick-off was delayed in Liverpool’s friendly versus Lazio on Friday because of pressure on Anfield’s turnstiles. Supporters were drawn by the first home outing of a partnership that makes them think this time it will be different, that between Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane. There are other reasons for imagining Liverpool are about to improve. Daniel Agger is back from injury, Ryan Babel, who grew sharply in potency during his first season, is a youngster ready to advance and Andrea Dossena, Benitez’s new £7m left-back, looks capable of proving penetration on the flanks which was previously lacking.
It is Keane that catches imaginations, though. The Kop have seen vaunted strikers arrive, but none with such serious Premier League pedigree. During the calendar year of 2007 no player, not even Cristiano Ronaldo, scored more goals in the competition than Keane. “When we signed, for example, Fernando Morientes, we thought he was the striker we needed because he was good in the air and had quality but he couldn't cope with the physical demands of the Premier League. Keane has more experience and knows what to do here,” Benitez said.
Against Lazio, Keane and Torres brought Anfield to its feet with an interchange where the ball moved from one player to another like electricity sparking between two points. Supporters had what they came for. “£20m is a lot but we’ve bought real quality,” said Jamie Carragher. “I’m probably more delighted than the rest of the lads because Robbie is one of the opponents who has caused me all kinds of problems down the years.
“He’ll always weigh in with 15-20 goals, but he is a goal creator as well as a goalscorer. I don’t like putting pressure on other players, but Robbie’s in the same mould as Keegan, Dalglish and Beardsley. For me, he is the perfect Liverpool No 7. The comparison between Keane’s partnership with Torres and the one that Dalglish had with Rush a few years ago could be a valid one.”
Keane’s purchase took Benitez’s gross spending to above £200m since 2004 and his net to around £120m. He likes to portray Liverpool as “a little club” but in the same period Manchester United’s gross spend is £134m and their net, £72m. Benitez believes he still needs another signing to make Liverpool contenders, Gareth Barry, but the club’s American owners and Benitez’s nemesis, chief executive Rick Parry, are disinclined to meet Aston Villa’s £18m asking price — despite briefings to the contrary.
To finance the deal, Benitez proposes selling Xabi Alonso but the Kop chanted Alonso’s name versus Lazio and invited the manager to “stick your Gareth Barry up your arse”. The infighting that has hampered past title challenges is not going away. “It’s not just about progressing on the pitch, you need to progress in all the other areas — and then maybe we can improve,” said Benitez, cryptically.
Ferguson, more interested in talking about Chelsea and Arsenal, could not raise much enthusiasm when Liverpool’s name was broached in a discussion about the title. Liverpool have not even scored against United in the league since September 2004, and lost seven out of eight games in Benitez’s reign. They have finished an average of 19 points off first position during those four seasons and Ferguson’s view, formed by the agonies of running Leeds United so close in 1991-92, before eventually making United champions a year later, might be that before winning a major you have to contend for one first — to borrow a golfing analogy.
Chelsea were second in 2003-04 before claiming a first Premier League crown in 2004-05 and Arsenal (they were third on goal difference) level with second-placed Newcastle in 1996-97 before breaking their duck in 1997-98. Liverpool are trying to leap to the summit from the depths of fourth last season, and never having been higher than third under Benitez.
They need to turn some of the draws of recent seasons into wins and avoid their customary autumn wobble to stand any chance. Benitez might wish to look at the risk-taking of Ferguson to see how positive managers are rewarded in England. Liverpool could study how United regenerated after an even longer title drought. “Aye,” Ferguson would be entitled to growl, however. “They all try that.”
FROM:TIMES
He famously remarked in an interview that when he arrived at Manchester United “my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool off their f****** perch. And you can print that”. He has met the challenge, and how — racking up 10 league titles in 16 seasons to leave United on 17, one championship away from Liverpool’s once untouchable record of 18.
Forget LFC, a United title No 18 could send the Liver Birds tumbling from their perches down at the Albert Dock, the event which, in myth, heralds the doom of Merseyside and its people. Ferguson shrugged when asked about the 18th title and another Anfield record within his grasp, that of Bob Paisley being the only manager (from any country) to win three European Cups. “Ah’m no thinking about that,” Ferguson said. They are, big time, along the M62.
Liverpool have had six managers since Ferguson swept into Old Trafford in 1986. Chelsea are on their 12th and Arsenal six, and Ferguson’s success has Arsène Wenger and, before he has even filled a Premier League dugout, Big Phil Scolari under pressure.
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Premier League preview 2008/9
It's going to be a bumpy ride
It is, however, Rafael Benitez feeling the greatest heat. Entering his fifth season with Liverpool, he is at the point in the cycle where goodwill and prior achievement evaporated for Gerard Houllier to leave the Frenchman vulnerable to a sacking when targets were not delivered. Those, for the Kop, are: 1. the league title, 2. the league title, 3. the league title, just as has been the case since 1990, the last time Liverpool were champions. “This season it [the barren run] will stop,” reads one blog on a well-known fansite. “I’ve never been more confident of anything in my life.”
Could this be Liverpool’s year? Benitez has fanned hopes by announcing he has his best squad and best chance in the league since coming to Anfield. “I think we’re better than last season. Every year the expectations are similar. You want to improve, you want to be contenders, you want to be closer to winning the title. I think we have the quality to do that but you never know because the others are strong. United and Chelsea are the best teams in Europe, so it will be difficult, but we will try,” he said.
Kick-off was delayed in Liverpool’s friendly versus Lazio on Friday because of pressure on Anfield’s turnstiles. Supporters were drawn by the first home outing of a partnership that makes them think this time it will be different, that between Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane. There are other reasons for imagining Liverpool are about to improve. Daniel Agger is back from injury, Ryan Babel, who grew sharply in potency during his first season, is a youngster ready to advance and Andrea Dossena, Benitez’s new £7m left-back, looks capable of proving penetration on the flanks which was previously lacking.
It is Keane that catches imaginations, though. The Kop have seen vaunted strikers arrive, but none with such serious Premier League pedigree. During the calendar year of 2007 no player, not even Cristiano Ronaldo, scored more goals in the competition than Keane. “When we signed, for example, Fernando Morientes, we thought he was the striker we needed because he was good in the air and had quality but he couldn't cope with the physical demands of the Premier League. Keane has more experience and knows what to do here,” Benitez said.
Against Lazio, Keane and Torres brought Anfield to its feet with an interchange where the ball moved from one player to another like electricity sparking between two points. Supporters had what they came for. “£20m is a lot but we’ve bought real quality,” said Jamie Carragher. “I’m probably more delighted than the rest of the lads because Robbie is one of the opponents who has caused me all kinds of problems down the years.
“He’ll always weigh in with 15-20 goals, but he is a goal creator as well as a goalscorer. I don’t like putting pressure on other players, but Robbie’s in the same mould as Keegan, Dalglish and Beardsley. For me, he is the perfect Liverpool No 7. The comparison between Keane’s partnership with Torres and the one that Dalglish had with Rush a few years ago could be a valid one.”
Keane’s purchase took Benitez’s gross spending to above £200m since 2004 and his net to around £120m. He likes to portray Liverpool as “a little club” but in the same period Manchester United’s gross spend is £134m and their net, £72m. Benitez believes he still needs another signing to make Liverpool contenders, Gareth Barry, but the club’s American owners and Benitez’s nemesis, chief executive Rick Parry, are disinclined to meet Aston Villa’s £18m asking price — despite briefings to the contrary.
To finance the deal, Benitez proposes selling Xabi Alonso but the Kop chanted Alonso’s name versus Lazio and invited the manager to “stick your Gareth Barry up your arse”. The infighting that has hampered past title challenges is not going away. “It’s not just about progressing on the pitch, you need to progress in all the other areas — and then maybe we can improve,” said Benitez, cryptically.
Ferguson, more interested in talking about Chelsea and Arsenal, could not raise much enthusiasm when Liverpool’s name was broached in a discussion about the title. Liverpool have not even scored against United in the league since September 2004, and lost seven out of eight games in Benitez’s reign. They have finished an average of 19 points off first position during those four seasons and Ferguson’s view, formed by the agonies of running Leeds United so close in 1991-92, before eventually making United champions a year later, might be that before winning a major you have to contend for one first — to borrow a golfing analogy.
Chelsea were second in 2003-04 before claiming a first Premier League crown in 2004-05 and Arsenal (they were third on goal difference) level with second-placed Newcastle in 1996-97 before breaking their duck in 1997-98. Liverpool are trying to leap to the summit from the depths of fourth last season, and never having been higher than third under Benitez.
They need to turn some of the draws of recent seasons into wins and avoid their customary autumn wobble to stand any chance. Benitez might wish to look at the risk-taking of Ferguson to see how positive managers are rewarded in England. Liverpool could study how United regenerated after an even longer title drought. “Aye,” Ferguson would be entitled to growl, however. “They all try that.”
FROM:TIMES
Mark Hughes wearing haunted look after nightmare
If Mark Hughes was already fretting about the size of the task he has taken on at Manchester City, this embarrassing result left him grimacing as jeers filled the stadium at the final whistle. City badly needed a victory in this Uefa Cup second qualifying round, first-leg encounter to bring stability to a club who have been rocked by the uncertainty over their chairman, Thaksin Shinawatra, but this will only heighten the sense of crisis that has engulfed Eastlands over the past week.
Defeat by FC Midtjylland, a spirited and well organised, if little-known, Danish team, could be said to have confirmed Hughes’s worst fears about a squad that lacks the spirit and the fitness that he insisted upon at Blackburn Rovers, but the problems on the training ground and on the pitch are minuscule compared with the others that the club face at present. With an arrest warrant issued for Thaksin in Thailand, after his refusal to face corruption charges, this is a club in danger of exceeding their well-known reputation for the absurd, even without results such as this.
Thaksin was not in attendance, having identified Weybridge, in the Surrey stockbroker belt, as his haven as he tries to avoid extradition to Thailand. Clearly more pressing things are on his mind, but if last night does not tell him something about the mess his club are in, nothing will.
If Mark Hughes was already fretting about the size of the task he has taken on at Manchester City, this embarrassing result left him grimacing as jeers filled the stadium at the final whistle. City badly needed a victory in this Uefa Cup second qualifying round, first-leg encounter to bring stability to a club who have been rocked by the uncertainty over their chairman, Thaksin Shinawatra, but this will only heighten the sense of crisis that has engulfed Eastlands over the past week.
Defeat by FC Midtjylland, a spirited and well organised, if little-known, Danish team, could be said to have confirmed Hughes’s worst fears about a squad that lacks the spirit and the fitness that he insisted upon at Blackburn Rovers, but the problems on the training ground and on the pitch are minuscule compared with the others that the club face at present. With an arrest warrant issued for Thaksin in Thailand, after his refusal to face corruption charges, this is a club in danger of exceeding their well-known reputation for the absurd, even without results such as this.
Thaksin was not in attendance, having identified Weybridge, in the Surrey stockbroker belt, as his haven as he tries to avoid extradition to Thailand. Clearly more pressing things are on his mind, but if last night does not tell him something about the mess his club are in, nothing will.
Thomas Thomasberg, the denim-clad 33-year-old coach of Midtjylland, accused City of complacency and of underestimating a side formed when the rival clubs of Ikast FS and Herning Fremad merged in 1999. “Maybe they didn’t know our players,” he said. “Maybe they made stupid decisions because they lost the ball and thought it would be so easy to get it back.”
There may be some truth in that, but Hughes blamed a poor performance on early-season teething problems, hinting at a lack of character and of fitness among the players that he has inherited. “Perhaps we were a bit behind the opposition in terms of sharpness, but that is no excuse,” the City manager said. “We needed to be dynamic, show more personality and drive the play. We can play much better. The match-fitness needs to be in place.”
So, too, does concentration, with elementary errors contributing to City’s downfall. Danny Olsen’s goal in the fifteenth minute was beautifully taken, but made possible by awful defending, initially by Richard Dunne, who lost the ball to Jude Nworuh, then by the rest of the back four, who were slow to react as the ball quickly reached Olsen. He beat Joe Hart with a crisp left-foot shot.
If the defensive frailties were unexpected, City’s limitations going forward were depressingly predictable. With Jô, the new £19 million signing from CSKA Moscow, on Olympics duty with Brazil and four other centre forwards absent through injury, Daniel Sturridge, 18, and Felipe Caicedo, 19, made little headway in attack. Little wonder that Hughes wants Blackburn to sell him Roque Santa Cruz. A £12 million offer was immediately rejected, but Hughes suggested it proved that “maybe the financial crisis that’s flying around isn’t as substantiated as people are saying”.
Olsen’s goal left City shaken but, to their new manager’s anger, not stirred. Hughes harangued Micah Richards and Elano, as well as the lamentable Caicedo, but while Sturridge curled a shot against the crossbar just before the interval and Petrov did likewise with a free kick in the 78th minute, the jeers at the final whistle were more than understandable. It could have been worse, with Petrov hacking off the line from George Florescu’s corner and Johnson lucky to escape a red card after catching Kristian Flinta with an elbow in the final minute.
Manchester City (4-4-2): J Hart 5 - V Corluka 5, M Richards 5, R Dunne 4, T Ben Haim 4 - Elano 5 (sub: K Etuhu, 69min 4), G Fernandes 6, M Johnson 6, M Petrov 5 - D Sturridge 6, F Caicedo 4 (sub: VBojinov, 64 4). Substitutes not used: K Schmeichel, N Onuoha, M Ball, D Hamann, S Ireland. Booked: Corluka.
FC Midtjylland (4-4-1-1): L Heinze 5 - K Afriyie 5, D Califf 7, W Reid 7, C Poulsen 6 - D Olsen 6 (sub: C Madsen, 74), A Salami 7 (sub: D Flinta, 84), G Florescu 6, J Borring 5 - M Thygesen 6 - JNworuh 5 (sub: B Collins, 55). Substitutes not used: MRaska, F Marcic, K Ipsa, P Furuseth. Booked: Florescu, Reid, Heinze.
Referee: B Rafati (Germany).
FROM :TIMES
Defeat by FC Midtjylland, a spirited and well organised, if little-known, Danish team, could be said to have confirmed Hughes’s worst fears about a squad that lacks the spirit and the fitness that he insisted upon at Blackburn Rovers, but the problems on the training ground and on the pitch are minuscule compared with the others that the club face at present. With an arrest warrant issued for Thaksin in Thailand, after his refusal to face corruption charges, this is a club in danger of exceeding their well-known reputation for the absurd, even without results such as this.
Thaksin was not in attendance, having identified Weybridge, in the Surrey stockbroker belt, as his haven as he tries to avoid extradition to Thailand. Clearly more pressing things are on his mind, but if last night does not tell him something about the mess his club are in, nothing will.
If Mark Hughes was already fretting about the size of the task he has taken on at Manchester City, this embarrassing result left him grimacing as jeers filled the stadium at the final whistle. City badly needed a victory in this Uefa Cup second qualifying round, first-leg encounter to bring stability to a club who have been rocked by the uncertainty over their chairman, Thaksin Shinawatra, but this will only heighten the sense of crisis that has engulfed Eastlands over the past week.
Defeat by FC Midtjylland, a spirited and well organised, if little-known, Danish team, could be said to have confirmed Hughes’s worst fears about a squad that lacks the spirit and the fitness that he insisted upon at Blackburn Rovers, but the problems on the training ground and on the pitch are minuscule compared with the others that the club face at present. With an arrest warrant issued for Thaksin in Thailand, after his refusal to face corruption charges, this is a club in danger of exceeding their well-known reputation for the absurd, even without results such as this.
Thaksin was not in attendance, having identified Weybridge, in the Surrey stockbroker belt, as his haven as he tries to avoid extradition to Thailand. Clearly more pressing things are on his mind, but if last night does not tell him something about the mess his club are in, nothing will.
Thomas Thomasberg, the denim-clad 33-year-old coach of Midtjylland, accused City of complacency and of underestimating a side formed when the rival clubs of Ikast FS and Herning Fremad merged in 1999. “Maybe they didn’t know our players,” he said. “Maybe they made stupid decisions because they lost the ball and thought it would be so easy to get it back.”
There may be some truth in that, but Hughes blamed a poor performance on early-season teething problems, hinting at a lack of character and of fitness among the players that he has inherited. “Perhaps we were a bit behind the opposition in terms of sharpness, but that is no excuse,” the City manager said. “We needed to be dynamic, show more personality and drive the play. We can play much better. The match-fitness needs to be in place.”
So, too, does concentration, with elementary errors contributing to City’s downfall. Danny Olsen’s goal in the fifteenth minute was beautifully taken, but made possible by awful defending, initially by Richard Dunne, who lost the ball to Jude Nworuh, then by the rest of the back four, who were slow to react as the ball quickly reached Olsen. He beat Joe Hart with a crisp left-foot shot.
If the defensive frailties were unexpected, City’s limitations going forward were depressingly predictable. With Jô, the new £19 million signing from CSKA Moscow, on Olympics duty with Brazil and four other centre forwards absent through injury, Daniel Sturridge, 18, and Felipe Caicedo, 19, made little headway in attack. Little wonder that Hughes wants Blackburn to sell him Roque Santa Cruz. A £12 million offer was immediately rejected, but Hughes suggested it proved that “maybe the financial crisis that’s flying around isn’t as substantiated as people are saying”.
Olsen’s goal left City shaken but, to their new manager’s anger, not stirred. Hughes harangued Micah Richards and Elano, as well as the lamentable Caicedo, but while Sturridge curled a shot against the crossbar just before the interval and Petrov did likewise with a free kick in the 78th minute, the jeers at the final whistle were more than understandable. It could have been worse, with Petrov hacking off the line from George Florescu’s corner and Johnson lucky to escape a red card after catching Kristian Flinta with an elbow in the final minute.
Manchester City (4-4-2): J Hart 5 - V Corluka 5, M Richards 5, R Dunne 4, T Ben Haim 4 - Elano 5 (sub: K Etuhu, 69min 4), G Fernandes 6, M Johnson 6, M Petrov 5 - D Sturridge 6, F Caicedo 4 (sub: VBojinov, 64 4). Substitutes not used: K Schmeichel, N Onuoha, M Ball, D Hamann, S Ireland. Booked: Corluka.
FC Midtjylland (4-4-1-1): L Heinze 5 - K Afriyie 5, D Califf 7, W Reid 7, C Poulsen 6 - D Olsen 6 (sub: C Madsen, 74), A Salami 7 (sub: D Flinta, 84), G Florescu 6, J Borring 5 - M Thygesen 6 - JNworuh 5 (sub: B Collins, 55). Substitutes not used: MRaska, F Marcic, K Ipsa, P Furuseth. Booked: Florescu, Reid, Heinze.
Referee: B Rafati (Germany).
FROM :TIMES
Thứ Tư, 13 tháng 8, 2008
Men's Football Day 3 Review: Brazil and Argentina advance to quarterfinals undefeated
(BEIJING, August 13) – The Men's Olympic Football preliminary concluded on Wednesday with 16 teams competing in the final round.
In one group A match, defending champion Argentina beat Serbia 2-0 and finished first in the group. Argentina finished its group stage without losing a single match.
In the other group A match, Cote d'Ivoire defeated Australia thanks to a sole goal scored by Salomon Kalou in the 81st minute. Argentina and Cote d'Ivoire went through to the quarterfinals as group A's two highest ranking teams.
In group B, the Netherlands' 1-0 victory over Japan secured the Netherlands a quarterfinal berth. Also in group B, Nigeria topped the group and advanced to the quarterfinals by beating the United States 2-1.
In group C, the brilliant Brazilians took their third consecutive victory in the group stage by beating host China 3-0, and cruised to the quarterfinals without even conceding a single goal.
Another group C qualifer was Begium, who beat New Zealand 1-0 in Wednesday's match.
In group D, Cameroon ended Italy's winning streak in a goaless draw. Even so, Italy still topped the group with 7 points, followed by Cameroon. Both teams advanced to the next stage.
The victory over Honduras 1-0 did not bring the Republic of Korea enough points to overtake Cameroon to advance from group D.
The Men's quarterfinals will play on August 16.
From :olympic
In one group A match, defending champion Argentina beat Serbia 2-0 and finished first in the group. Argentina finished its group stage without losing a single match.
In the other group A match, Cote d'Ivoire defeated Australia thanks to a sole goal scored by Salomon Kalou in the 81st minute. Argentina and Cote d'Ivoire went through to the quarterfinals as group A's two highest ranking teams.
In group B, the Netherlands' 1-0 victory over Japan secured the Netherlands a quarterfinal berth. Also in group B, Nigeria topped the group and advanced to the quarterfinals by beating the United States 2-1.
In group C, the brilliant Brazilians took their third consecutive victory in the group stage by beating host China 3-0, and cruised to the quarterfinals without even conceding a single goal.
Another group C qualifer was Begium, who beat New Zealand 1-0 in Wednesday's match.
In group D, Cameroon ended Italy's winning streak in a goaless draw. Even so, Italy still topped the group with 7 points, followed by Cameroon. Both teams advanced to the next stage.
The victory over Honduras 1-0 did not bring the Republic of Korea enough points to overtake Cameroon to advance from group D.
The Men's quarterfinals will play on August 16.
From :olympic
Michael Phelps: Life in the fast lane
The deep gulps of air and fighting back of tears as Michael Phelps stood proudly upon the podium as US anthem the Star Spangled Banner rang around the Water Cube said it all.
It is a sound the 23-year-old American swimmer knows all too well. After winning the Men's 200 meters Butterfly final -- Phelps's fourth gold medal of the Beijing Olympic Games, each on a world record time -- another superlative can justifiably be added to the growing list of adjectives used to describe this amazing athlete: legend.
Phelps powered his way into Olympic history at Beijing 2008 to become the first person to ever win 10 Olympic gold medals. "I just kept thinking wow, I'm the greatest Olympian of all time, It's a pretty great title. It's pretty neat, I'm definitely honored."
"Listening to the anthem, with the medal around your neck is an amazing feeling," said Phelps, after his tenth record medal. "I am almost at a loss for words. Growing up I always wanted to be an Olympian."
He is the classic wholesome all-American boy who, for an added twist of tension, even had the audacity to win the 200 meters Butterfly despite a goggle malfunction which affected his vision.
"When my goggles filled up there was nothing I could do. All I could do at that point was swim. I tried to see something at the 150 wall. I tried to see the T on the bottom to judge my turn. I was more or less trying to count my strokes, hoping I was dead on. I'm just disappointed because I know I can go faster than that."
Faster was precisely what Phelps and his colleagues in the USA Men's 4 x 200 Freestyle team did to add an 11th gold to his list an hour after clinching the all-important tenth. They shattered another world record – Michael's 30th - by slashing an amazing 4.68 seconds off their own previous world record.
His 11 gold medals in total stand two clear of the previous best – the nine-gold-medal club consisting of four athletes: Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, Ukrainian gymnast Larysa Latynina, US swimmer Mark Spitz and sprinter Carl Lewis.
"When you have an Olympic Gold medal, it stays with you forever. You're always an Olympic gold medalist. It's amazing and it definitely never gets old."
Indeed by the time the Beijing 2008 swimming competition concludes Phelps could also become the first person ever to win eight gold medals at a single Olympic Games, surpassing Mark Spitz's seven at Munich in 1972 and ratcheting up his overall tally to 14 gold medals.
Small wonder one of his friends sent him a cheeky text message after seeing Phelps step onto the podium for the tenth time: "Dude, how many times a day do I have to see your ugly face?"
At Athens 2004 Phelps took eight medals -- a feat only achieved by one other athlete, Russian gymnast Alexander Dityatin, in Moscow in 1980.
Perhaps the most staggering thing is that, at 23 years old, Phelps is feasibly young enough to add more Olympic medals to his collection should he decide to carry on until London 2012.
So who is Michael Fred Phelps and what makes him the greatest Olympian in history?
Born in Baltimore in the US state of Maryland, Phelps – known as the Baltimore Bullet -- suffered Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as a teenager and trained at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club under coach Bob Bowman, who was later an assistant coach to the US swimming team at Athens 2004.
He was a talented junior swimmer who became the youngest-ever US swimmer to compete in the Olympic Games when he represented his country at the age of 15 at the Sydney 2000 Games in the Men's 200 meters Butterfly. A few months later, at 15 years and nine months, he became the youngest man to set a swimming world record, again in the 200 meters Butterfly.
His first World Championship gold medal came in 2001, but the big breakthrough year was 2003, when Phelps won four gold medals and two silver at the World Championships in Barcelona.
At Athens 2004, Phelps extended that to six gold medals and two bronze (swimwear manufacturers Speedo offered Phelps one million dollars if he won all eight medals – an offer which has stayed on the table for Beijing 2008).
Indeed a succession of lucrative sponsorship deals meant Phelps could no longer train as an amateur, so when Bowman moved to coach at the University of Michigan in 2004, Phelps followed too and trained at a local swimming club in Ann Arbor called Club Wolverine.
Phelps has vowed not to work under any other coach than Bowman. "I don't think I would be where I am today with any other coach. He's always on top of things. We've been through a lot."
He maintained his grip as the world's No. 1 swimmer by winning four gold and two silver at the 2005 World Championships and then six gold medals at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Then came this week's incredible record-breaking feats.
The bad news for Phelps's rivals is that he hasn't lost his thirst for more titles.
"This is something we've been preparing for over the past four years. The hard work is paying off and it's starting to show."
That is surely the understatement of Beijing 2008. Debate among sports columnists will rage about whether Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time. Conjecture, of course ... but the record book is firmly on his side.
The Phelps Fact File
Full name: Michael Fred Phelps
Date of birth: June 30, 1985 (age 23)
Place of birth: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Strokes: Butterfly, Individual Medley, Freestyle, Backstroke
Height; 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight; 195 pounds (88 kg)
Club: Wolverine, University of Michigan
From :olympicbeijing
It is a sound the 23-year-old American swimmer knows all too well. After winning the Men's 200 meters Butterfly final -- Phelps's fourth gold medal of the Beijing Olympic Games, each on a world record time -- another superlative can justifiably be added to the growing list of adjectives used to describe this amazing athlete: legend.
Phelps powered his way into Olympic history at Beijing 2008 to become the first person to ever win 10 Olympic gold medals. "I just kept thinking wow, I'm the greatest Olympian of all time, It's a pretty great title. It's pretty neat, I'm definitely honored."
"Listening to the anthem, with the medal around your neck is an amazing feeling," said Phelps, after his tenth record medal. "I am almost at a loss for words. Growing up I always wanted to be an Olympian."
He is the classic wholesome all-American boy who, for an added twist of tension, even had the audacity to win the 200 meters Butterfly despite a goggle malfunction which affected his vision.
"When my goggles filled up there was nothing I could do. All I could do at that point was swim. I tried to see something at the 150 wall. I tried to see the T on the bottom to judge my turn. I was more or less trying to count my strokes, hoping I was dead on. I'm just disappointed because I know I can go faster than that."
Faster was precisely what Phelps and his colleagues in the USA Men's 4 x 200 Freestyle team did to add an 11th gold to his list an hour after clinching the all-important tenth. They shattered another world record – Michael's 30th - by slashing an amazing 4.68 seconds off their own previous world record.
His 11 gold medals in total stand two clear of the previous best – the nine-gold-medal club consisting of four athletes: Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, Ukrainian gymnast Larysa Latynina, US swimmer Mark Spitz and sprinter Carl Lewis.
"When you have an Olympic Gold medal, it stays with you forever. You're always an Olympic gold medalist. It's amazing and it definitely never gets old."
Indeed by the time the Beijing 2008 swimming competition concludes Phelps could also become the first person ever to win eight gold medals at a single Olympic Games, surpassing Mark Spitz's seven at Munich in 1972 and ratcheting up his overall tally to 14 gold medals.
Small wonder one of his friends sent him a cheeky text message after seeing Phelps step onto the podium for the tenth time: "Dude, how many times a day do I have to see your ugly face?"
At Athens 2004 Phelps took eight medals -- a feat only achieved by one other athlete, Russian gymnast Alexander Dityatin, in Moscow in 1980.
Perhaps the most staggering thing is that, at 23 years old, Phelps is feasibly young enough to add more Olympic medals to his collection should he decide to carry on until London 2012.
So who is Michael Fred Phelps and what makes him the greatest Olympian in history?
Born in Baltimore in the US state of Maryland, Phelps – known as the Baltimore Bullet -- suffered Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as a teenager and trained at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club under coach Bob Bowman, who was later an assistant coach to the US swimming team at Athens 2004.
He was a talented junior swimmer who became the youngest-ever US swimmer to compete in the Olympic Games when he represented his country at the age of 15 at the Sydney 2000 Games in the Men's 200 meters Butterfly. A few months later, at 15 years and nine months, he became the youngest man to set a swimming world record, again in the 200 meters Butterfly.
His first World Championship gold medal came in 2001, but the big breakthrough year was 2003, when Phelps won four gold medals and two silver at the World Championships in Barcelona.
At Athens 2004, Phelps extended that to six gold medals and two bronze (swimwear manufacturers Speedo offered Phelps one million dollars if he won all eight medals – an offer which has stayed on the table for Beijing 2008).
Indeed a succession of lucrative sponsorship deals meant Phelps could no longer train as an amateur, so when Bowman moved to coach at the University of Michigan in 2004, Phelps followed too and trained at a local swimming club in Ann Arbor called Club Wolverine.
Phelps has vowed not to work under any other coach than Bowman. "I don't think I would be where I am today with any other coach. He's always on top of things. We've been through a lot."
He maintained his grip as the world's No. 1 swimmer by winning four gold and two silver at the 2005 World Championships and then six gold medals at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia. Then came this week's incredible record-breaking feats.
The bad news for Phelps's rivals is that he hasn't lost his thirst for more titles.
"This is something we've been preparing for over the past four years. The hard work is paying off and it's starting to show."
That is surely the understatement of Beijing 2008. Debate among sports columnists will rage about whether Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all time. Conjecture, of course ... but the record book is firmly on his side.
The Phelps Fact File
Full name: Michael Fred Phelps
Date of birth: June 30, 1985 (age 23)
Place of birth: Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Strokes: Butterfly, Individual Medley, Freestyle, Backstroke
Height; 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight; 195 pounds (88 kg)
Club: Wolverine, University of Michigan
From :olympicbeijing
Thứ Ba, 12 tháng 8, 2008
Football ace Ronaldo wants Scots tycooon's car palte
MAN United's Cristiano Ronaldo is poised for a big money summer transfer - for a number plate.
The Portuguese superstar is determined to buy CR 7 - a combination of his initials and favourite shirt number - from property tycoon Charlie Robinson.
But the Scot has vowed to keep the plate unless Ronaldo buys him a replacement worth £175,000.
Robinson, of Troon, Ayrshire, said: "That registration plate is close tomy heart and I won't be letting it go easily.
"I bought it three or four years ago and I've had a few inquiries about it since then.
"I haven't spoken to Ronaldo personally but there has been some interest."
The 39-year-old, who also has CR 8 on his Ferrari F430, added: "It's a part of the car now. I certainly wouldn't be pressured into selling it.
"The only way I'd be convinced to part with it would be in a swap deal for CR 1 - that way everybody would be happy."
CR 1 is on the market for £175,000 - making it worth £25,000 more than the Bentley Continental that CR 7 hangs on.
But Robinson figures Ronaldo, who is wanted by Real Madrid, can easily afford it - he earns £120,000 a WEEK.
His agent Jorge Mendes refused to comment but a source close to the player said: "He's determined to get it.
"He's obsessed with the CR 7 branding and wants it on everything he has.
"Everybody has their price and when you earn the money Ronaldo does, you can buy pretty much anything you like."
Ronaldo opened a fashion store called CR7 in 2006 in his home town of Funchal and plans to open a club with the same name.
SUNDAY EMAIL
s.dinneen@sundaymail.co.uk
The Portuguese superstar is determined to buy CR 7 - a combination of his initials and favourite shirt number - from property tycoon Charlie Robinson.
But the Scot has vowed to keep the plate unless Ronaldo buys him a replacement worth £175,000.
Robinson, of Troon, Ayrshire, said: "That registration plate is close tomy heart and I won't be letting it go easily.
"I bought it three or four years ago and I've had a few inquiries about it since then.
"I haven't spoken to Ronaldo personally but there has been some interest."
The 39-year-old, who also has CR 8 on his Ferrari F430, added: "It's a part of the car now. I certainly wouldn't be pressured into selling it.
"The only way I'd be convinced to part with it would be in a swap deal for CR 1 - that way everybody would be happy."
CR 1 is on the market for £175,000 - making it worth £25,000 more than the Bentley Continental that CR 7 hangs on.
But Robinson figures Ronaldo, who is wanted by Real Madrid, can easily afford it - he earns £120,000 a WEEK.
His agent Jorge Mendes refused to comment but a source close to the player said: "He's determined to get it.
"He's obsessed with the CR 7 branding and wants it on everything he has.
"Everybody has their price and when you earn the money Ronaldo does, you can buy pretty much anything you like."
Ronaldo opened a fashion store called CR7 in 2006 in his home town of Funchal and plans to open a club with the same name.
SUNDAY EMAIL
s.dinneen@sundaymail.co.uk
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