All posts by h79snht.top

Let me ask you a question. What do you think of when you hear the name Jonny Evans? Strange query you might think, but apart from suffering an injury plagued season this time around, many will simply acknowledge a player who may well prove to be the bedrock of Manchester United’s defence for the next decade and a half.

Now, what about Martin Taylor? For many their knowledge of Taylor begins and ends on one cold February afternoon in 2008 when in the early minutes of the Birmingham-Arsenal league clash, his challenge on Croatian striker Eduardo ruled the youngster out of action for nine months with a sickening leg break.

As we return from a near two week international break, fans of Bolton Wanderers are facing up to the prospect of being without one of their finest players this season for the rest of the campaign and beyond.

Whilst many of his club team mates have been away on international duty, Stuart Holden has been coming to terms with the fact that his dream first season in English football has turned into an injury nightmare as a direct result of the tackle from Johnny Evans at Old Trafford two weeks ago.

Many will have had to look up who exactly it was that inflicted the injury on the Bolton midfielder, such has been the scarcely believable relaxed media attitude towards the challenge that ruled one of the Trotters’ brightest prospects out of the game for at least six months

Considering the devastating nature of a cruciate ligament injury, it was thus incredibly refreshing to hear Holden accept a call from Evans by way of apology and to reflect that injuries of this nature are “part of the game.”

If only everybody took this view in the world of football. Some fans may consider the comparison between Jonny Evans and Martin Taylor unfair, but it is an interesting point of reference for what can happen when a career threatening injury is sustained.

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Of course, had the harm been inflicted on an Arsenal player, we would have had to prepare ourselves for an Arsene Wenger led tirade about the war on good football by mid-table Premier League sides up and down the country. Yet, in this situation, Owen Coyle almost felt he couldn’t get angry about the tackle, and the focus was on Mike Phelan’s concession that the referee had made the right decision.

This is not to castigate the United defender – but can someone explain to me the difference between Ryan Shawcross’ challenge on Aaron Ramsey last season and the tackle by Evans?

Now I am not for a moment suggesting that the Northern Irish international meant to cause damage to Bolton’s central midfielder, but it struck me, and has continued to surprise me over the last two weeks, just how accepting everyone has been of what was undoubtedly a very dangerous challenge.

It appears impossible not to conclude that there is a remarkable hypocrisy in action here. Where a team deemed to play good football suffers a loss like this, it is painted as criminal. When any other side suffers the same fate, the incident is merely incredibly unlucky.

Outrage on either side is not desirable. Whenever tackles lead to major injuries managers and players look for someone to blame. Genuine malicious challenges are not commonplace. Neither Taylor nor Shawcross had prior reputations for ruthless challenges, yet will be forever remembered as inflicting two career threatening injuries. Even if Stuart Holden never recovers from his injury setback, admittedly not a likely prospect, Jonny Evans will not be remembered in such a light.

Am I the only one to think this double standard is unfair?

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Indisputable intent to harm should certainly be punished – Ben Thatcher quite rightly had the book thrown at him for his sickening challenge on Pedro Mendes four seasons ago, yet Roy Keane received only a mandatory three match ban before confessing his intention to end the career of Alf Inge Haaland. Ultimately, however, Thatcher is remembered as a dangerous loose cannon, Keane a no nonsense midfielder.

We love a sport that is fast, frenetic and intense. It is time to follow Stuart Holden’s lead and appreciate that misfortunate incidents happen, whichever side you play for.

For more posts like this and updates from when I am out and about, feel free to follow me on Twitter.

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I realise that Michael Carrick isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. The Manchester United midfielder has been the target of a fair amount of flak this season, from both his own fans and neutral observers. He arrived at Old Trafford from Spurs with a huge price tag (£18.6m) and an even bigger point to prove. He may have impressed in Tottenham colours, but could he do the job at arguably the biggest club in the country? The fact that he was handed Roy Keane’s number 16 shirt was even more of a sign of the trust placed within the midfielder.

Has Michael Carrick rewarded that trust? On some occasions: yes. On other occasions he’s looked lost, incapable or just plain sloppy.

This week, however, when United took on Chelsea in the Champions League, Carrick put in an astonishingly good performance. He was my MOTM. He helped Manchester United get creative in the first-half, controlling the flow of the game through the midfield and changed his game in the second-half as Chelsea started to assert their dominance by adopting a more defensive style.

In the first half, where Manchester United were working with a 4-4-2 formation and attempting to shock Chelsea, Carrick was absolutely fantastic. He picked out passes, found runners, got in the faces of Chelsea players and was, for a little while the best player on the pitch. The second-half saw a more defensive performance from Carrick, as Chelsea turned the screw, but he handled the responsibilities just as ably.

He was given responsibility and he excelled. Why is it then we don’t see this Carrick week-in, week-out in the Premier League?

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Far too often Carrick is the purveyor of lifeless, passive performances. If his passing game is off, he often has very little to offer. He doesn’t snap into tackles in the same way Scholes does. He doesn’t bomb forward in the same fashion as Anderson.

Performances such as the one Carrick served up last night should give fans pause to think. Why is it that he’s not doing this every week? What is it about the way Manchester United is set-up that doesn’t allow him to play his best football? In many ways I think Carrick has been set-up as something of a scapegoat for United’s failings over the last couple of seasons.

I would suggest that Carrick is at his best when he’s at the centre of an attacking, free-flowing team performance. He’s not the kind of player that likes to get stuck in, but if his side are already dominating, if the strikers are making good runs, he can pull the strings and make things happen. I strikes me that the way United are set-up, the way they approach every game, fails to do any favours to Michael Carrick – who is expected to scrap it out in the centre of midfield.

Whilst the more combative Scholes was expected both to do this and to provide the passes that start off the United attacks, Carrick simply isn’t good enough to offer both. As such, it’s not Carrick’s fault – he’s been handed a role that he’s not accustomed to, that he doesn’t have the stones to pull off. On his day he’s an excellent player, as we saw last night, but in the midst of this United set-up over the course of a season, he will get found out.

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

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Rangers fans have been found guilty of discriminatory behaviour by UEFA and handed a one-match away ban in Europe.The Scottish club has also been fined a total of 80,000 euros by UEFA’s disciplinary body, who took umbrage with fans singing sectarian chants during the home and away legs of Rangers’ Europa League tie with Dutch outfit PSV Eindhoven last month.

For the charge relating to the away leg, Rangers were fined 40,000 euros and barred from selling tickets to supporters for the club’s next two away fixtures in any UEFA club competition.

The second match, however, is suspended for a probationary period of three years.

For the charge relating to the home leg, Rangers were fined another 40,000 euro and ordered play their next home fixture behind closed doors, although this punishment was also suspended for three years.

Rangers, who were not permitted any representation at the hearing, have three days to appeal the sanctions.

A UEFA statement said: “Following a charge of discriminatory behaviour at the first leg match against PSV Eindhoven on March 10, 2011, Rangers FC have been fined 40,000 euro and the club is restricted from selling any tickets to its supporters for two away matches in UEFA club competitions (with the respective home clubs also not authorised to sell tickets to Rangers FC supporters).

“This ban applies to Rangers FC’s next away match and is suspended for the second away match for a probationary period of three years.”

“The control and disciplinary body also fined the Scottish club a further 40,000 euro for discriminatory behaviour at the second leg match on March 17 and ordered Rangers FC to play their next home UEFA club competition match behind closed doors.”

“This sanction is however deferred for a probationary period of three years.”

After spending such a long time at Tottenham, how did you find moving up to Newcastle?

It wasn’t very long into my time at Newcastle that I realised this was the type of challenge and experience that I needed. I left Tottenham after almost 15 years as a coach, and given the choice at the time I probably would have stayed. But I appreciated how long I had been there for, and I realised quickly that it was time for me to get away from what had been a very secure job. So I welcomed the opportunity.

Of course, coming out of the comfort zone of working in the South, at a club I had been at for so long – these are the challenges that I think, at some stage, everyone needs in their career. I think it became a very good time for me.

You went up there still as an assistant manager. How did you find the shift to being in charge of Newcastle?

I suppose, in my circumstances, it was quite a gradual process. Even in the short period of time when I first came up to Newcastle, so much happened. I initially went there to work with Kevin Keegan as part of a coaching group. Kevin already had Terry McDermott and Arthur Cox, who had worked very closely with him, and myself and Steve Round were in charge of most of the training. Then Kevin left and both Joe Kinnear and Alan Shearer went on to take charge of the club.

The transition for me from that to management happened a little bit slower after we got relegated. I took control of affairs in the summer, but I was still a temporary manager through that pre-season and into the start of the season. I was eventually given the role in a full-time capacity. It wasn’t a big deal, because I had been doing the job since day one of that pre-season. By the time we got to October and I got given the job, it almost seemed natural and obvious that it was going to happen.

When things are going well, it makes it that much easier, and we had had a good start to that Championship season, which we were able to continue. So the process was not so difficult.

Despite the club’s relegation, the majority of players stayed on. Why do you think that was?

I think it was a combination of a few things. At that stage nobody knew what was going to happen at the club. There were certain players who showed a desire to go, and subsequently went. Then there were players at the club who were under contract and did enjoy being at the club.

I think many of them looked at the situation and saw that we were still a big club, but in a different division. A lot of them thought that, with the squad we had, we had a great chance of going straight back up again.

I think the fact that we started well helped too. We only lost one player – Damien Duff – who actually started the season with us. Perhaps if we had not started well, a few more would have taken that as a sign of things to come and want to get away. But, because we started well, I think they saw the challenge of coming straight back up as one they could enjoy, and they showed that right throughout the season.

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Was it always clear just how quickly Andy Carroll would progress after his first full season in the team?

No it wasn’t. First and foremost, he is definitely one player who benefited from the club being relegated. We had lost Michael Owen, Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins. There is perhaps the train of thought that says if we had stayed in the Premier League we probably would have looked to replace those players with other centre-forwards. The fact that we didn’t gave Andy the opportunity to play.

I think the fact that he got to play on that regular a basis no doubt fast-tracked the qualities that he is now showing. It was evident that he was a lad who had enough in the locker to make progress, but to do that you have got to be playing games. He showed that, by the end of that Championship season, he was a much better player than when he started it.

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Regarding his progress, we had a decent pre-season before the start of this season, and then we went and lost 3-0 at Manchester United in the first game. We were able to pick through some positives from that game, and probably the biggest of those was the performance of Andy Carroll. From there, of course, things have gone from strength to strength for him.

At the start of the season no one could have predicted that he would move on so soon for a record fee for a British player. What did you think when you saw that Liverpool had paid £35 million for him?

The fee was always going to be about the future. With the money that they got for (Fernando) Torres and what they paid out for Carroll and (Luis) Suarez, at the moment it looks like good business. Only time will tell, regarding the actual figure that they paid for him.

If Andy continues to make really good progress for Liverpool and England over the next few years then everybody will look at that fee and say it was worth every penny of it, because we now have a player who is possibly worth more. It is a big fee, and I think most people at the time felt that, but these are the market values these days.

Visit the Dugout www.yahoo.co.uk/dugout for new interviews every week with England’s top football managers

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Sir Alex Ferguson revealed that he never thought that his United side would have the opportunity to eclipse Liverpool’s 18 title when he took over the reins at Old Trafford. You do sense that victory at Old Trafford on Sunday would seal it for Fergie and bring an end to Chelsea’s late surge.

In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Chelsea’s move for Hiddink could fail; Mancini in need of summer spending, while Keegan believes that England job should be given to a foreign coach.

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Wilshere ‘could be out until autumn’ if he plays for U-21s – Guardian

Villa want Benitez to take over if Houllier can’t return from illness –Daily Mail

United never saw us coming grins Chelsea boss – Mirror

Ferguson welcomes Webb appointment – Guardian

West Ham on the brink – Daily Telegraph

Mancini in need of a cheque up – Sun

Ajax keeper now top of United’s shopping list – Mirror

Keegan: Forget Redknapp, give England job to a foreign coach – Daily Mail

Uefa will back Blatter in Fifa elections – Guardian

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Martinez: We will pass our way out of trouble – Daily Telegraph

Redknapp makes Gomes plea – Sun

Cahill: City can’t buy team spirit like Everton’s – Mirror

Manchester City made a giant step towards automatic qualification to the group stages of the Champions League at Eastlands last night. It is now out of Arsenal’s hands and if they fail to improve on City’s result on the last day of the season then Wenger’s men will have to go through the qualifying stages.

In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Sagna revealing the players have trust in Wenger; Avram Grant claims that six managers were offered his job in January, while Gary Neville urges Paul Scholes to continue at Old Trafford.

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Mancini – Tevez will stay – Sky Sports

Six managers were offered my job by West Ham, claims Grant – Guardian

Fan fury as Birmingham players booze to 4am – Mirror

Neville urges Scholes to continue – Daily Telegraph

Dinner-brawl fan was screaming at me like crazy – Ba – Mirror

Sagna: In Arsene Wenger we trust – Sun

Ferguson and Ancelotti escape FA ban – Guardian

Playing regularly Spurs me on – Sun

Arsenal may sell Arshavin to raise funds – Guardian

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Shay: Leaving City is a Given – Sun

City and Liverpool plan ticket price hike – Daily Telegraph

Liverpool make their move for £20m-rated starlet – Mirror

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Tottenham have set the transfer ball rolling with the signing of Brad Friedel from Aston Villa. According to the player’s agent the American was inundated with offers in the last 48hrs felt the challenge of being a part of the North Londoner’s quest to regain a spot in the top four was too good to turn down.

In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Michael Owen angers Newcastle fans with jibe; Sunderland eye Manchester United duo, while Liverpool plan clearout to fund new signings.

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Fifa fallout may lead to pariah status – Guardian

Hughes left in limbo as Aston Villa get cold feet – Mirror

Hiddink rules out dual role – Sky Sports

Sunderland want Gibson and Brown in double swoop on Manchester United – Daily Mail

Van Persie: Chelsea are bitchers and Barca are moaners – Mirror

Owen angers Newcastle with ‘poor team’ jibe – Guardian

Liverpool plan summer clearout to fund signings – Guardian

Tottenham to up bid for Damiao – Daily Telegraph

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£30m Kop swoop! Liverpool near deals for Jones and Henderson – Daily Mail

Johnson: We must keep Tev – Sun

Hart: England’s goalkeeping situation stinks – Mirror

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Liverpool’s transfer policy has undergone a radical and noticeable shift since Kenny Dalglish, aided with the help of Director of Football Damien Comolli, came back to the club and there has been a deliberate attempt to snare the best of British in and around the top flight. But, with a huge premium put on British talent possibly more than ever before, is pursuing players based solely on the nature of their passports a financially viable and rewarding policy? Furthermore, could Liverpool’s change of tack be said to be anything other then reckless considering the considerable rebuilding job needed at the club at this point in time?

Of course, pursuing British talent is always an admirable aim to aspire towards; a British spine to a side, in my eyes at least, is always preferable, but not when it comes at the expense of decreased quality.

Since his emotional return to the club and the subsequent upturn in the club’s fortunes both on and off the pitch, the team spirit that Dalglish has fostered has made Anfield a good place to ply your trade once more. Liverpool are once again an attractive proposition despite the club being unable to offer European football for the foreseeable future. However, it has become almost sinful to criticise Dalglish since his return; he has become somewhat immune and beyond reproach, but with concerns to their current transfer policy, some Liverpool fans are beginning to voice their discontent at the worrying path that the club are taking – being taken to the cleaners by smaller sides for deeply average players for hugely inflated fees.

Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson have already arrived for a combined fee of £51m – a startling amount considering that they boast just 109 Premier League and 3 international appearances between them. They both have bags of potential but there is a huge risk being taken here and an equally large burden rather unfairly being placed upon the players to step up and perform straight away, even though the transfers themselves are aimed more at the long-term.

Stewart Downing is currently being touted at £18m to move to Merseyside with the onus now placed squarely on the player to make the move happen with Liverpool thought to be unwilling to meet Aston Villa’s lofty price tag for their most consistent performer last term. Charlie Adam is expected to complete a move to the club for a fee between £8-10m by the end of the week. Are either of these players worth the fees being bandied about for them? Not on your nelly.

With news persisting that last season’s PFA Fans Player of the Year Raul Meireles may be allowed to leave the club for a fee in the region of £13m after a contractual dispute, and you seriously have to question the direction that the club are heading in.

It is worth noting that Liverpool are not the only club shifting their transfer policy. Man Utd and Man City have both done it and Arsenal are thought to be toying with the idea with their defensive acquisitions. But the quality and more importantly, the fees being mentioned are somewhat disconcerting.

Damien Comolli stated upon completing the Henderson deal: “If a player is English or British or has played in the Premier League we’ll look at that over someone who is abroad.” That is quite frankly a myopic approach that could seriously land the club in hot water in years to come. In five years time Liverpool could either be one of the top two sides in the country or the most expensively assembled collection of wasted talent to have ever graced the top flight. The margins are very thin and they are gambling with the club’s financial future both on and off the pitch.

A player’s nationality should not be the be all and end all behind a deal, especially at the extravagant prices that Liverpool are being quoted for players that are relatively unproven, particularly at the highest level. Quality on the pitch and not a passport should be the overriding factor behind any move and the salient point that you simply get more bang for your buck abroad than at home is one that’s worth remembering.

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These are exciting times for Liverpool, let’s make no bones about that. Dalglish has reinvigorated the club both on and off the pitch, but whether the transfer policy that he’s currently overseeing represents both value for money and offers the club the best route forward in the immediete future remains to be seen.

Follow James on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/#!/JamesMcManus1

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Copa America hosts Argentina must win their final group game against Costa Rica on Monday to guarantee their spot in the quarter-finals of the competition.Sergio Batista’s side have endured a frustrating start to the tournament on home soil, drawing their opener with Bolivia 1-1, followed by a goalless draw against Colombia.

They are third in Group A, one point behind second placed Costa Rica and two back from group leaders Columbia.

The two best third-placed nations will progress to the quarter-finals, but Argentina know anything less than a draw will leave their fate in the results of others.

Wednesday’s stalemate saw Argentina fans turning their backs on the players and booing them off the pitch in Sante Fe.

“No football player likes it when a game ends and you leave the fans with a bad feeling and a bad feeling with ourselves for not playing how we’d like,” Argentina captain Javier Mascherano said.

“Also when the fans insult you or sing aggressive songs, no one likes that.”

“But it is their right and I repeat, we are aware of the situation, and we are also aware that it is on us to change it.”

“And starting Monday we have to start a new Copa America.”

World players of the year Lionel Messi has received the brunt of the criticism in Argentina, where fans had hoped to see their star player fire the team to Copa America glory for the first time since 1993.

The Barcelona man has had a limited influence in the hosts’ first two matches, but club and national teammate Mascherano and the rest of the squad have been quick to defend him.

“Really, on an individual level we are all not performing our best,” Mascherano said.

“And this obviously is affecting the entire team.”

“But that doesn’t mean it is Messi’s fault that Argentina is playing poorly.”

“On the contrary, I think collectively we have been affected by the poor individual performances.”

Argentina meet Costa Rica in Cordoba on Monday, while Colombia take on Bolivia in Sante Fe.

Nothing epitomised West Ham last season better than the match they were relegated in. At the beginning of the season the fans were optimistic that new manager Avram Grant would be able to move the club forward after having narrowly avoided relegation the year before. They weren’t able to climb the league, but going 2-0 up away to Wigan meant they still had a chance of keeping their place in the Premiership.

And then they blew it. 3 goals without reply for the Lancashire club and West Ham dropped out of the basement. It had been a horror year for the Hammers, and not even Scott Parker’s Captain-Fantastic-performances or the return of Thomas ‘Der Hammer’ Hitzlsperger could turn it around.

Now facing up to the prospect of a spell in the Championship, new manager Sam Allardyce has a lot of work to do to bring the London club back up to the promised-land of the Premier League. His brief is to do this at the first time of asking, which is generally what is hoped for when a team is relegated. But his strategy for doing this, questioned in some quarters, appears to be a somewhat high-risk, if not completely kamikaze, policy of signing players on Premier League wages to get the job done.

But is this the right way of securing a way out of the second tier of English football, or a doomed path to further embarrassment?

It seems wrong to argue with Big Sam (after all, he could easily have managed Real Madrid) because his track record with struggling clubs is impeccable. Most people would agree that if Allardyce had still been in charge at Blackburn then they would have found themselves much higher up the league than they eventually did; scrapping for survival on the last day of the season just wouldn’t have happened. His time at Newcastle was ill-fated, that is for sure, but maybe fans expected too much, and only being given half a season is no way to tell if a manager will be successful or not in the long-run.

He has so far brought in Kevin Nolan for an undisclosed fee and Abdoulaye Faye on a free transfer. But the issue is not with the amount he pays for them, but the amount they are paid in their contracts. Nolan’s £50,000 per week is a lot of money for a team in the Championship to splash on the wages of just one player. And with West Ham having been linked with moves for Eidur Gudjohnsen (although this proved to be a failed effort), Matthew Taylor, Andy Johnson and even Joe Cole, he might not even be one of the highest earners at the club. If they were to fail to get the promotion they crave, West Ham could be plummeted into further financial difficulties, something the team and the fans will not want to have to experience again.

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So is Allardyce right to pin so much on the ‘bouncebackability’ of his team? In a word, yes. Newcastle, Birmingham and West Bromwich Albion are some of the few teams that can boast immediate returns to the Premier League, whilst the likes of Leicester, Sheffield United, Derby County and many others have become bogged down in the lower leagues. This is mainly because the Championship has been getting more and more competitive over the years, and this year looks to be one of the most challenging ever. West Ham will need the kind of quality that Allardyce is looking to bring in, and the fact that he has managed a lot of the players before should mean that he knows how to motivate them.

The target of 1 season, 1 promotion is also important as the move to the Olympic Stadium approaches. The likes of Tottenham and Leyton Orient don’t need any more ammunition to throw at the Olympic Park Legacy Company as evidence of the Hammers’ undeservedness. Whether or not Big Sam can hold off the hits and deliver on his promise remains to be seen, but he is certainly building a squad capable of cashing on the return tickets he has issued.

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Who’s your tip for the Championship next season? Let me know on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/_tomclose