All posts by h79snht.top

10 years after meeting one another in England’s third tier Swansea and Stoke come face-t0-face for the first time in the top flight at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.

That game took placed in 2001 with the Swans relegated to the bottom division and flirted with a potentially damaging drop into the conference during the next two years. Everyone remembers the remarkable escape of 2003 and since then it’s been rise after rise for the Welsh club culminating in last seasons play-off final win which secured promotion to the top division. They won their first league game since that Wembley victory two weeks ago beating West Brom 3-0 before coming back down to Earth seven days later with a 4-1 hammering courtesy of Chelsea. Despite the difficult start they’ve made to Premier League life the Swans have enjoyed every minute of their time in England’s top division so far and their propensity to attack and entertain is a refreshing change from the guarded philosophy normally exhibited by promoted sides. Brendan Rodgers is unwavering in his principals and ethics that football should be played with a certainly style and swagger with the Swans slick passing game winning them many admirers already. The pace of Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer is exciting whilst Joe Allen and Ashley Williams have proved themselves capable performers at this level. They’ll also take great pride in their unbeaten home record that reads a win and two draws and will be hoping to put one over on Tony Pulis’ Potters. Leon Britton is an injury worry with a back injury. Alan Tate, Steven Caulker, Kemy Agustien and Ferrie Bodde all remain long-term absentees.

For the football romanticists out there the Stoke reached the play-offs in 2001 but missed out on promotion but they eventually reached the promised land seven years later as we all know. The Potters have begun the season in red hot form and have shown they can juggle their gruelling Europa League campaign alongside that of the League and cup commitments. Pulis’ men have lost only once this season away at Sunderland but showed superb character to fight back and take a point from Manchester United last week. Deadline day signing Peter Crouch scored the equaliser in the game and was also on target on Thursday in a famous win over Besiktas at the Britannia Stadium. Jon Walters was also on target in that game and the duo look to be building a promising partnership up front. They could both miss out with Pulis likely to make wholesale changes as he tries to keep his squad fresh and free from injury. He could be without Matthew Etherington who suffered a dead leg in midweek and could join Salif Diao and Kenwyne Jones in the treatment room.

Key Players

Ashley Williams – The Welsh centre half has been immense for the Swans with his speed and power house style giving several Premier League strikers a shock so far this season. He will relish a physical battle against the likes of Crouch and Walters and will do his best to come out on top.

Ryan Shawcross – As ever the Potters skipper will be vital to his sides chances of claiming victory at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday. A colossus in the heart of defence he may have some trouble dealing with the speed of Sinclair if they manage to get in behind.

Verdict: 2-1

Defender Ashley Williams is Swansea City’s highest ranked player on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Williams is currently in 46th place on the Index Williams has made 10 clearances, 11 interceptions and seven blocks in the Swansea City cause this season The Stoke City players covered a total of 120,678m (74.99miles) during last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United. This was 20,269m further than the total distance covered by the United players in the game Ryan Shawcross was the Stoke City player to cover the most ground (11,712m/7.28miles) during the game, closely followed by Glenn Whelan (11,706m/7.27miles) and Jonathan Walters (11,474m/7.13miles)

Fancy winning a million pounds??

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Aston Villa have started an inquiry to get to the bottom of Barry Bannan’s car crash on Sunday morning, as the midfielder was arrested on drink-driving charges.

The Scotland international was in an accident involving a Range Rover on the M1 heading southbound at 5.30am on Sunday, and was arrested by local police before later being bailed.

The 21-year-old was accompanied by Shrewsbury striker James Collins, a former Villa player, who also was arrested and bailed.

Villa boss Alex McLeish confirmed that the inquiry over the incident has began.

“There are internal inquiries and an investigation going on and that’s all I can really say at the moment. We felt it was best that he did not train with the team today [Monday],” the Scottish manager told The Guardian.

The energetic midfield man is regarded as one of Villa’s most exciting prospects, and has been a welcome inclusion in Craig Levein’s Scotland squad of late.

The former Celtic youth player has won nine caps for his country to date, and has added guile and creativity to a at times static Villa midfield.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Leighton Baines scored a dramatic late penalty as Everton came from behind to beat Wolves and secure only their second home win of the season.

The left back had already set up Phil Jagielka’s equaliser curling in a wonderful free kick for the Toffees skipper to head home after Stephen Hunt had given Mick McCarthy’s men a first half lead with a penalty of their own. It was then left to Baines to decide the game and he made no mistake cooly slotting home from the spot with just seven minutes left on the clock. It will come as a welcome relief to manager David Moyes who has seen his side slip to 17th after a run of one win in six Premier League games. For Wolves they will feel that the decision by referee Jon Moss to award a penalty for Steven Ward’s nudge on Louis Saha in the area was harsh with the defeat seeing them slip to fourth bottom. Despite starting the campaign in positive fashion McCarthy’s side have claimed only one victory in their last nine and are too close to the drop zone for comfort.

Despite their poor run of form the visitors were bright in the opening exchanges and they took a deserved lead through Hunt’s penalty on 37 minutes. David Edwards made strides into the Everton penalty only to his progress halted by the outstretched leg of Maroune Fellaini. Referee Moss didn’t hesitate in pointing to the spot and Hunt made no mistake from 12-yards and score his second goal of the season. That proved to be the wake up call the home side needed and they were level within seven minutes with Jagielka getting on the end of Baines’ whipped free kick to plant a header past Wayne Hennessey. Controversy then engulfed the confines of Goodison Park with Toffee’s fans convinced they should have had a penalty after Karl Henry appeared to tug back Tim Cahill as the midfielder tried to get on the end of Fellaini’s shot. Mr Moss kept his whistle firmly away from his lips as the home support appealed ferociously for a spot kick.

Half time certainly didn’t do the game any favours with the opening 20 minutes passing without incident with the Everton supporters’s going from penalty appeals to lambasting their team for their sloppiness in possession. However the Toffees kept plugging away as Wolves faded and the travelling support had Hennessey to thank for snuffing out Saha as he made a rare foray into the penalty area. Ward then produced a marvellous block to deny Cahill from two yards out but it proved to be all in vain as the home side stole the points in the dying embers. Moss adjudged Ward of fouling Saha in the penalty area and Baines kept his nerve to drive home the spot kick to hand Moyes’ side a vital three points that moves them clear of the bottom three and into 12th.

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Kenny Dalglish has called upon the FA to resolve this Luis Suarez affair once and for all. The Scot doesn’t believe that the delay is doing the Uruguayan any favours, a player who Kenny believes can be the perfect role model for the club.

At FFC this week we have seen a mixed bag of blogs that include a £35m conundrum for Liverpool fans; improvements needed at Anfield, while UEFA ruling sees the Reds flex their financial muscles.

We also look at the best Liverpool articles around the web this week.

Are Supporters inadvertently getting in the way of progress?

Two football institutions could help pave the way for greater success

A long overdue clampdown on the very parasites of football

A £35m question that only Liverpool fans can answer

Dalglish and Villas-Boas’ £2m pursuit highlights the lengths clubs go

Simply costing Liverpool dear

Improvements still needed in Liverpool’s key area

UEFA ruling ensures Liverpool flex their financial muscles

John W Henry’s transfer theory holds up on closer inspection at Liverpool

[divider]Best of WEB

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Don’t worry Stewart, most of it isn’t your fault – Live4Liverpool

The holier than thou and the whiter than white? – This is Anfield

Suarez & Downing | Statistically compared to rivals | Liverpool FC – Anfield Index

Is Kenny Dalglish’s irritated reaction over Andy Carroll justified? – Liverpool Kop

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Bang Tidy €5M International Claims Anfield Move “Close” – Transfer Tavern

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Click on Mrs Van der Vaart to unveil the Premier League Wag XI

Crystal Palace are through to the semi finals of the Carling Cup, after they stunned Premier League champions Manchester United and beat them 2-1 after extra time on Wednesday night.

Sir Alex Ferguson fielded a second string side, but with the likes of Dimitar Berbatov, Antonio Valencia and Ji-Sung Park in the home side will have expected to progress.

Darren Ambrose gave the Championship side the lead in the second half, before Federico Macheda equalised for the hosts from the penalty spot and pushed the game into overtime.

Substitute Glenn Murray grabbed the all important winner after 98 minutes, and away manager Dougie Freedman was delighted with his team’s efforts.

“It is a wonderful night for the football club considering the position we have been in in recent years. We really enjoyed our night,” he told Sky Sports.

“We got the win, which I thought we deserved, we played some good football and showed desire to see out the game.

“When you come to Old Trafford you have to give everything you have got and the lads did that. We believe in each other and that takes you a long way at times,” he concluded.

Ferguson meanwhile apologised to the home supporters, and admitted his disappointment at being eliminated from the tournament.

“I’m so disappointed. I have to apologise to my fans and all the players who weren’t playing. We never expected that,” he said.

“Any time we go on the pitch it means a lot to Manchester United. We have our pride to protect and our history to protect. Every time we walk on the pitch it’s important. We didn’t see that tonight.

“Nine internationals out there. So that was a big disappointment.”

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The draw for the next round has been completed also, and Crystal Palace will play against Cardiff for a place in the final, whilst Manchester City take on Liverpool.

By Gareth McKnight

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Harry Redknapp is a manager often accused of not doing very much, of leaving the coaching to the coaches, the running of the club to the chairman and of leaving his tactics to chance. All a little unfair perhaps but criticisms he faces nonetheless. However his arguably minimalist approach to management highlights an issue in modern management that, although not a fact across all clubs, is widespread in most leagues. When Harry first started management, he told BBC News, the managers would:

“Do the transfers, you would do the contracts with the players, you would negotiate the contracts with the players, you would negotiate the transfer fees with the different managers at the different clubs…nowadays we’ve all got chief executives, you’ve got chairmen who are all hands on and really the business side of the club is completely run by them.”

Now you might think that this can only be beneficial to managers who, after all, have enough to deal with as it is. This would be true if the managers still had a say in the financial aspects of the club, to take away their involvement in that however would be to decrease the power of their position as a whole.

Wages

In his interview with Robert Peston Redknapp yearns for a time when wages were not only reasonable (he quotes £10 per week) but when the wages were decided by the manager and were dependent on a player’s form and loyalty. Basically he covets a time when the manager had complete control over his players and the club. He cites the reasoning for this being a necessity not only because it made the manager’s job easier in terms of controlling his players but there was also a clear system of motivation for the players. If they impressed the manager they would be paid more. Unfortunately the system is not as sustainable as it once was. Where players used to be given £10 per week increases now they want an extra £10,000 per week.

Clearly with the Bosman ruling in today’s game the control could never be the same as it was, the players could still demand more than they used to be able to because of the threat of leaving the clubs for free at the end of their contract. However Redknapp highlights the problems faced in today’s clubs of players’ agents going above the managers and straight to the chief executives. Now this isn’t necessarily a problem in clubs where there are long standing managers such as Arsene Wenger or Alex Ferguson. At those clubs there would be no point in going above the manager when the managers have established situations whereby they are effectively in control due to the length of their tenure. However this is not the case at most clubs and whilst the role of the chief executives might be important for the commercial running of the club, when it comes to contract negotiations it tends to undermine the authority of the manager with the players.

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Player control

This is the case because with the exception of a minority of players the only control managers ever really had was the money the players received. Yes there are other factors, such as a manager refusing to pick a player. Yet players such as Wayne Bridge or Carlos Tevez or Paulo Ferreira have shown that there are footballers out there that care little about being played as long as they collect their pay cheques. Without the ability to influence the money that these players receive the position of the manager is weakened. This might seem unimportant but in a season when we have already seen players such as Suarez, Rooney, Terry and others in the media spotlight for the wrong reasons it is clear a manager can never have too much control. We only need to look at the last week to see an example of this with Wayne Rooney, Jonny Evans and Darren Gibson all breaking curfew to go out for dinner, and that was under the management of the infamously discipline inclined Alex Ferguson. Yes he exercised his power by dropping them for the next game yet he was the one who suffered as they lost 2-3 to relegation threatened Blackburn. If even he doesn’t have the ability to totally control his players then who does? Yes, he can fine them, but the damage is already done by their excessive contracts that you can be sure he did not negotiate. As Redknapp said in his interview:

“(The chairman) would discuss the terms with the selling club or whatever…and he would do all the deals with them. I wouldn’t be involved in it. I couldn’t even tell you the wages of a player at this club. You now the wages are something that he negotiates.”

Redknapp argues that the control is totally undermined by level of wages these days but admits that his inability to renegotiate the players’ contracts at the end of the year makes his job even more difficult:

“You don’t have that control that my manager would’ve had when I was a young player, when at the end of the year, you’d sign a new one year contract. Whether it was Bobby Moore, whether it was Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters –who played in the World Cup final – they’d go see the manager. You didn’t have an agent. You’d sit in the manager’s office and he’d give you maybe a five or ten pound a week rise.”

When you look at all of these factors together: the role of agents, the hands on approach of chairman, chief executives and directors of football, the increase in wages and the Bosman ruling you are left wondering whether managers really have enough control of their clubs or players. Whilst essentially their role is that of a head coach is that role not inextricably linked to the financial management of the players? Players, who, Redknapp says, are now “fragile characters” due to the amount of money they earn and agents who pander to their every demand. Clearly at some clubs the situation is worse than others, at Chelsea for example it is obvious who is in control, and also clearly some managers are not up to the task of negotiating yet how can we truly judge the performances of those in charge of our clubs if they are not fully in control?

For more news and views follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay

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According to the Sun, Harry Redknapp flew to France yesterday to watch Marseille forward Loic Remy with a view to bringing the Frenchman to White Hart Lane.

Redknapp is reported to be an admirer of Remy and has been keeping tabs on the striker for a number of months.

The Tottenham boss will be keen to add to his striking options with uncertainty over Emmanuel Adebayor’s future beyond this season, and will have been impressed with what he saw yesterday as Remy netted two goals in Marseille’s 2-0 win over Lille.

The French international has been described by Arsene Wenger as very similar to a young Thierry Henry. With pace, strength and an eye for goal, Remy has the attributes to be a success in the Premier League.

The Marseille forward has stated that an exit from Marseille this January would be “out of the question” and “disrespectful to the fans.”

However, conflicting reports say the French club will be willing to sell, with Redknapp adding: “I don’t know whether we can sign him but we need to keep trying.”

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Remy has scored 12 goals in all competitions this season and will be a keen to add to his reputation during the knock-out phase of the Champions League.

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QPR owner Tony Fernandes has admitted that he is loving his role at the London club, but is not enjoying the pressure of a relegation battle.

The Loftus Road club lost 3-2 to fellow strugglers Blackburn at the weekend and now find themselves in 16th place in the Premier League standings.

QPR have invested heavily to bring new players to the club, and Fernandes wants them to show their ability on the pitch.

“I always said from day one we would be in a relegation battle and our aim was to avoid relegation,” the entrepreneur told Mirror Football.

“Am I coping with the pressure? I’m not loving the pressure, but I’m loving the whole experience.

“I’m doing the best I can, and it’s now up to the boys on the pitch and the manager to do what they can.

“We certainly have the players and ability to avoid relegation, but the Premier League is very tough, and only time will tell,” he reflected.

Fernandes recently replaced Neil Warnock with Mark Hughes as manager, and the owner admitted that it was difficult to sack the man that earned them promotion to the top flight.

“That was the most difficult time I’ve encountered as a boss of any of my businesses.

“I liked Neil, and I thought like with any of my employees it would be a long, long, long relationship. Sadly I ended up doing the one thing I said I wouldn’t do, which is why it was tough.

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“I’d rather not go into the reasons why I got rid of him. It was a decision that was made, and we’ve moved on from it,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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City and United victorious again,

Whilst Fulham delight over Rangers’ ten,

Plucky Wolves show they’re up for the fight,

As the Toon’s two points disappear out of sight,

Chelsea comprehensive against the Trotters,

Means temporary silence for AVB plotters,

Rare loss for Black Cats and Martin O’Neill,

Whilst Hodgson’s West Brom show all the steel,

So some cracking wins and a score draw,

The Wigan game though, quite a bore,

Match of the weekend is not in doubt,

For the Gunners comeback required some clout,

Behind by two before the break,

The Arsenal warriors refused to shake,

As Bacman and Robin solved the crime,

To level it up before half time,

Rosicky and Walcott make it five,

Now the Gunners must kick on and drive,

For Spurs the result is certainly not a killer,

But let us appreciate this seven goal thriller!

 

Goal of the Weekend

Jonas Gutierrez isn’t always among the goals but he seems to have an eye for the spectacular. Having scored a mazy solo goal against Wolves in the reverse fixture, he scored his second wonder goal with a strike that tops his Molineux effort. The Argentinian neatly controlled Kevin Doyle’s clearance before rifling an effort past Wayne Hennessey from nearly 30 yards out. Although the goal was ultimately in vain as the visitors fought back valiantly, Gutierrez should be proud of his fantastic strike.

Performance of the Weekend

Firstly, plenty of credit must go to Wolves who, against all the odds, summoned up the courage to come from behind to claim a draw at Newcastle, becoming the only team to claim points after the Toon have gone ahead at home. However, Arsenal had to produce something special to eventually end up thrashing Spurs.

Prior to the weekend, Arsenal had not claimed any points in the Premier League when the opposition scored first at the Emirates. Their rivals hadn’t lost when scoring first this season which makes the Gunners comeback even more monumental. Arsene Wenger must ensure his players build on this performance against what will be a buoyant Liverpool next week.

Save of the Weekend

Fulham completed a derby double over West London rivals Queens Park Rangers. However, despite playing against ten men for nearly an hour on Saturday, Martin Jol will be thankful to Mark Schwarzer who made a fantastic second half save. Having been slipped in by Adel Taarabt, Shaun Wright-Phillips was through on goal. However, a deft touch from the Australian stopper ensured QPR were denied although it went unnoticed by the linesman who awarded a goal kick.

Player of the Weekend

The Emirates may be adorned with a banner “We don’t need Batman, when we’ve got Robin.” Yet did they know they had a new superhero in their ranks – Bacman. Yes, Bacary Sagna helped to drag the Gunners back into the North London Derby by opening the scoring for Arsenal. His runs down the right hand side gave Spurs plenty of problems and he supplied Tomas Rosicky with the goal to take Arsene Wenger’s side in front.

This was only Sagna’s fourth league game back having originally broken his leg against Spurs in the first North London Derby of the season. If the Gunners are to make fourth place their own, they’ll need performances like this one from the French right back. Most importantly, Sagna will need to give some more solidity to what has been a leaky Arsenal defence.

Quote of the Weekend

Chris Kamara’s struggle to pronounce the name of Fulham striker Pavel Pogrebnyak  brought yet more comedy to Soccer Saturday. His auto correct on Twitter even lead to this tweet:

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“Andy Johnson Goal ruled out for offside here at QPR but Pomegranate with the opener for Fulham with the next attack 0-1”

Fair play to Kamara, who probably won’t be the only person to trip up over the Russian forward’s name!

For more Premier League musings, follow @arhindtutt on Twitter

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The increasing profile of Financial Fair Play and the world’s current economic climate have seemingly caught up with the untouchable realm of top-flight football. Although fans want instant success for their club, long term stability may well be more important – just ask Rangers fans.

Kenny Dalglish has endured a fairly tough season at the helm of Liverpool, as off-field issues and inconsistent results have damaged the Reds’ hopes of achieving Champions league qualification, something that supporters of the club desired from the outset. Yet away from the field-of-play the Merseysiders have been going from strength-to-strength. The board room issues that marred Hicks and Gillett’s reign are now almost forgotten as the Fenway Sports Group have set about reshaping the club, and building a stable long term project. The latest piece of business achieved comes in the shape of a £25 million-per-year kit deal with American sports giants Warrior. To put this into context, the Reds’ new deal is the most financially rewarding in the entire Premier League, eclipsing Manchester United’s deal with Nike and doubling the income from the previous deal with Adidas. Coupled with this, Dalglish’s side also receive £20 million-per-season from kit sponsors Standard Chartered, one of the only beneficial legacies left by the previous owners. All-in-all Liverpool find themselves in a great financial position, even if on-field performances are a little below expected standards.

All of these changes have been lauded as more important in the long term than achievements on the field of play by Dalglish, who insists that the club is improving rapidly:

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“The club is now where it was before – each one for each one, everybody in it together. There are many ways you can judge a season and the best way is progress at the football club as a whole. I don’t think it necessarily relates to trophies or points.” The manager told the Guardian.

“You can measure it by how the club has progressed and where it is, from the first team to the kids. Off the pitch, especially, the club is a lot stronger than what it was. You go off the pitch and see how much money we are getting through sponsorship and kit deals.

“You look at the academy and see how much better it is. You look around here (Melwood) and most of the people have got a smile on their faces now. The squad is stronger than it was last year. What other areas are there to improve on – apart from points?”

Although there will be many critics to King Kenny’s stance, it has to said that he has a point. It’s easy to forget that the Reds were on the verge of bankruptcy not so long ago, and in real danger of slipping off the football radar. However since taking over in 2010, FSG have established a feeling of stability at the club, addressing the spiraling debts and investing in the long term future of the club.

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While others run consistently in the red, Liverpool look to be establishing a plan to make the club not only financially secure, but profitable. Teams living beyond their means is common place, but changes in UEFA rulings are now cracking down on such actions. Financial security before instant success may ultimately prove to be the mantra to go by, as economic issues hunt down the top-tier football. With big names such as Rangers falling into peril, and debts for many clubs across mainland Europe spiraling out of control, the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool, who are planning for stability, may soon become the standard bearers. Although fans want points and prizes, to put them before the future of the club would be irresponsible, sponsorship and income are truly a measure of success.