Give Capello and England a chance

If you picked up a newspaper this morning and read the back page I am pretty sure that  a majority of the headlines are slamming England and Fabio Capello.

For those of you not in the know, England drew 2-2 with the Czech Republic last night after twice going behind.

It makes me mad sometimes to see these reports.
Firstly, the Czech Republic qualified for the Euro’s where England failed so to get a result against them is not a bad thing at all!

Secondly, the papers are saying that “the pampered stars shame the national game” how ridiculous! They showed the strength and will to pull back from behind twice in this game. These players are mostly lads in their twenties, little more than kids. Yes they lead a rich and privelidged lifestyle but that’s something that come’s with the territory. Does anybody really think that these players don’t care about results? If they do they are idiots, even the most pampered richest player in the World, David Beckham, still hates losing!

Thirdly, capello is still adjusting and is still trying different players out. The damage done by previous manager, Steve McClaren, will take a while to sort out. But all in all I look at his team selection and think theres not much different I would do either. Maybe Crouchy would feature more but that’s just my opinion. I certainly don’t think I can tell Mr Capello how to do his job. He’s a good coach, end of story.

I’m a Welshman, a part of me would love to see England flop but the football loving part of me wants them to perform to the best of their ability something they are not yet doing, but give mr Capello the time and freedom to do what he needs to do and I think they will qualify for the World cup. And that should be enough. Don’t expect England to be pushing to the quarters or Semi’s, just accept that qualification will be an improvement and if they achieve that, Capello will have succeeded in his job and can then set himself the next target.

Premier League opening day summary

Hull made a dream start to life in the Premier League, but fellow newcomers Stoke and West Brom were both beaten.

The Tigers, tasting top-flight football for the first time in their history, came from behind to defeat Fulham at a packed and passionate KC Stadium.

But Stoke were made to pay for two defensive lapses as they were beaten 3-1 by Bolton, while brave West Brom went down 1-0 to Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

Paul Ince’s first game in charge of Blackburn ended in a 3-2 victory over Everton and Middlesbrough enjoyed a 2-1 triumph against Tottenham.

Dean Ashton grabbed an early double in front of watching England boss Fabio Capello as West Ham defeated Wigan 2-1 at Upton Park.

The evening game saw Sunderland entertain Liverpool and The Reds started their title challenge on a winning note courtesy of Fernando Torres’ late winner.

Early wobbles

Hull were all at sea in the opening moments against Fulham, and it was no surprise when Seol Ki-Hyeon was given space between the centre-backs to flick Jimmy Bullard’s cross into the bottom corner.

But the Tigers recovered from their early wobbles, with Geovanni firing home an excellent equaliser before the break following a superb run and shot from outside the box.

And Folan made sure his name will forever be remember in Hull as he stroked home the winning goal nine minutes from time after Paul Konchesky’s error gifted the ball to Craig Fagan.

Samir Nasri’s early goal was enough for Arsenal as they held out against West Brom to secure a 1-0 victory at Emirates Stadium.

A typical flowing move from the Gunners saw Denilson cut the ball back for the £12million summer signing to slot beyond Scott Carson.

The Baggies improved after the break and came close to equalising only for Johan Djourou to clear Paul Robinson’s shot off the line.

Stoke’s jubilation at their top-flight return evaporated in the opening 45 minutes as Bolton cruised into a 3-0 half-time lead.

The Potters fell behind to a freak goal from Gretar Steinsson in the 34th minute, when his cross-shot from out on the right wing somehow flew into the top corner of the net.

Then poor marking at two set-pieces before the break allowed Kevin Davies and new signing Johan Elmander to head home.

Ricardo Fuller pulled one back in the second half, but it was all in vain for Tony Pulis’ side.

 

Last-gasp glory

Andre Ooijer’s last-gasp strike secured victory for Paul Ince in his first Premier League game in charge of Blackburn at Everton.

Ince did not have to wait long to celebrate Rovers’ first goal of his management, with David Dunn showing quick feet to create space on the edge of the box before beating Tim Howard all ends up.

But Mikel Arteta’s clever free-kick caught new arrival Paul Robinson napping as he whipped the ball in at the near post to level matters before the interval.

Everton then edged in front when Arteta escaped down the left and delivered an inch-perfect cross to the far post for Yakubu Aiyegbeni to head home.

But the lead was short-lived as Stephen Warnock found Roque Santa Cruz in behind the home defence and the big striker slotted home before Ooijer had the final say.

Middlesbrough enjoyed an impressive opening day victory over big-spending Tottenham.

David Wheater, who had a goal ruled out in the first half, scored with 19 minutes remaining from point-blank range after Spurs failed to clear a corner and Afonso Alves’ initial shot fell to the defender at the back post.

And Mido made it 2-0 with time running out as he deflected Gary O’Neil’s shot beyond Heurelho Gomes, before Robert Huth’s late own goal.

West Ham striker Ashton sent a message to watching England coach Capello with two early goals against Wigan.

Ashton’s first was a stunning strike, as he turned Paul Scharner and lashed a fearsome shot beyond Chris Kirkland from the edge of the area, before adding a close-range second when Wigan failed to deal with a corner from the left.

Amr Zaki gave the Latics hope after the break with another excellent finish, volleying home after Emile Heskey had flicked on a long throw into the box, but the Hammers held on.

Liverpool left it late at Sunderland, but kicked off their Premier League with a 1-0 win thanks to Torres’ winner.

Chances were at a premium at the Stadium of Light with neither side creating any first half chances of note.

Both sides had opportunities to forge in front, but with the game scoreless entering the last ten minutes of play a draw looked on the cards.

However, the visitors did not read the script and Xabi Alonso picked out Torres with a neat through-ball with the Spain international striker dispatching a pin-point right-footed shot past the helpless Craig Gordon to snatch all three points.

Wrexham Squaring up to non league status.

It was a blow for my home town Wrexham last year when they where relegated from the football league.

A lot of people thought it just couldn’t happen, some quickly began to point fingers of blame. some at Brian Little, some at neville Dickens and some at individual players. It was a low spot for the club there is no doubt but in Brian Little, I believe the club has a manager given the time, support and freedom to run the players his way can not only get us back into the league but also take them onwards and upwards.

Mr Little has made some very good signings considering our non league status and an excellent pre-season led to mixed reaction from the fans I spoke to around the town. some thought it was too good to be true and that when the league kicked off it would be business as usual. which based on last seasons games means dropping silly points against teams that Wrexham should really be beating.

Stevenage at home was supposedly a tough one to start the season with. After all many a bookie has Stevenage down as the favourites for promotion this term.

Wrexham in front of a decent attendance of just under 5,000,  produced a superb display and hammered Stevenage 5-0. Captain Tom Kearney, Jefferson Louis and Shaun Whalley, all new boys, scored and Christian Smith and Marc Williams banged in a couple to the delight of the home fans.

The only negative was the sending off of Levi Mackin, but to see him as upset with himself as he was signalled he’d learnt his lesson before he’d left the pitch.

If there was pressure on Wrexham to do well before, the pressure will certainly be on  from now.
And if they’re going to play like this I may just find myself attending a few more games this year!

FA launch Respect campaign

The FA have launched a respect campaign aimed at getting players to show proper respect to Referees and officials during games.

A move, in my opinion, long over due.

The problem though is that players have not lost respect, they never had it in the first place!

Todays players have been brought up as “Stars” from an early age and think they can throw tantrums whenever a decision goes against them. Personally I think it should be treated the same as a professional foul, with teams punished for a players outbursts.

Football is starting to surprise me. As I began to lose faith in the F.A. (it’s been a while since I had many positives to say about them), they announce this campaign and I really hope they follow through with it.

You can read more about the campaign here

Premier League Transfers

ARSENAL

Ins: Aaron Ramsey (Cardiff, £5m), Samir Nasri (Marseille, undisclosed), Amaury Bischoff (Werder Bremen, undisclosed).

Outs: Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos, £1m), Alexander Hleb (Barcelona, £11.8m), Jens Lehmann (Stuttgart, free), Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan, free), Kerrea Gilbert (Leicester, loan).

ASTON VILLA

Ins: Steve Sidwell (Chelsea, £5m), Curtis Davies (West Brom, undisclosed), Brad Friedel (Blackburn, £2m).

Outs: Thomas Sorensen (released), Patrik Berger (Sparta Prague, free), Luke Moore (West Brom, £3m).

BLACKBURN ROVERS

Ins: Robbie Fowler (Cardiff, free), Paul Robinson (Tottenham, £3.5m), Carlos Villanueva (Audax Italiano, loan), Danny Simpson (Manchester United, loan).

Outs: Stephane Henchoz (released), Bruno Berner (released), Peter Enckelman (Cardiff, free), Brad Friedel (Aston Villa, £2m), David Bentley (Tottenham, £15m).

BOLTON WANDERERS

Ins: Johan Elmander (Toulouse, £10m), Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham, £5m), Mustapha Riga (Levante, undisclosed), Danny Shittu (Watford, undisclosed).

Outs: Daniel Braaten (Toulouse, undisclosed), Andranik Teymourian (Fulham, free), Stelios Giannakopoulos (released), Ivan Campo (released), El Hadji Diouf (Sunderland, £2.5m).

CHELSEA

Ins: Jose Bosingwa (FC Porto, £16.2m), Deco (Barcelona, £8m).

Outs: Steve Sidwell (Aston Villa, £5m), Ben Sahar (Portsmouth, loan), Ryan Bertrand (Norwich, loan), Slobodan Rajkovic (FC Twente, loan), Claude Makelele (Paris St Germain, free), Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart, £4m), Tal Ben Haim (Manchester City, undisclosed), Shaun Cummings (MK Dons, loan).

EVERTON

Ins: None.

Outs: Lee Carsley (Birmingham City, free), Stefan Wessels (VfL Osnabruck, free).

FULHAM

Ins: John Pantsil and Bobby Zamora (West Ham, £6.3m), Tony Kallio (Young Boys Bern, undisclosed), Andranik Teymourian (Bolton, free), Zoltan Gera (West Brom, free), David Stockdale (Darlington, undisclosed), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, free), Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg, undisclosed), Pascal Zuberbuhler (Neuchatel Xamax, free).

Outs: Dejan Stefanovic (Norwich, undisclosed), Nathan Ashton (Wycombe, nominal fee), Elliot Omozusi (Norwich, loan), Ricardo Batista (Sporting, undisclosed), Tony Warner (Hull City, free), Carlos Bocanegra (Stade Rennais, free), Brian McBride (Toronto, free), Philippe Christanval, Jari Litmanen, Simon Elliott, Kasey Keller (all released).

HULL CITY

Ins: Peter Halmosi (Plymouth, £2m), George Boateng (Middlesbrough, £1m), Tony Warner (Fulham, free), Bernard Mendy (Paris St Germain, free), Geovanni (Manchester City, free), Craig Fagan (Derby, £750,000), Anthony Gardner (Tottenham, loan).

Outs: Michael Bridges (Carlisle, loan), Henrik Pedersen (Silkeborg IF, free), David Livermore (Brighton, free).

LIVERPOOL

Ins: David Ngog (Paris St Germain, undisclosed), Emmanuel Mendy (Murcia Deportivo, free), Diego Cavalieri (Palmeiras, undisclosed), Andrea Dossena (Udinese, undisclosed), Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund, free), Robbie Keane (Tottenham, £20.3m).

Outs: Jack Hobbs (Leicester, loan), Godwin Antwi (Tranmere, loan), Adam Hammill (Blackpool, loan), Scott Carson (West Brom, £3.25m), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth, £11m), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray, free), Paul Anderson (Nottingham Forest, loan), Anthony le Tallec (Le Mans, undisclosed), John Arne Riise (Roma, £4m), Besian Idrizaj (Wacker Tirol, free), Danny Guthrie (Newcastle, undisclosed), Robbie Threlfall (Hereford, loan), David Martin (Leicester, loan), Sebastian Leto (Olympiakos, loan).

MANCHESTER CITY

Ins: Jo (CSKA Moscow, £18m), Tal Ben Haim (Chelsea, undisclosed).

Outs: Georgios Samaras (Celtic, undisclosed), Andreas Isaksson (PSV Eindhoven, undisclosed), Geovanni (Hull, free), Emile Mpenza and Paul Dickov (both released), Sun Jihai (Sheffield United, free), Matthew Mills (Doncaster, £300,000).

MANCHESTER UNITED

Ins: None.

Outs: Adam Eckersley (AC Horsens, free), Gerard Pique (Barcelona, £5m), Tom Heaton (Cardiff City, loan), Chris Eagles (Burnley, £1m), Danny Simpson (Blackburn, loan)

MIDDLESBROUGH

Ins: Didier Digard (Paris St Germain, £4m), Marvin Emnes (Sparta Rotterdam, £3.2m).

Outs: George Boateng (Hull City, £1m), Fabio Rochemback (Sporting, free), Lee Dong-Gook (released), Mark Schwarzer (Fulham, free), Steve Thompson (Port Vale, free), Lee Cattermole (Wigan, £3.5m).

NEWCASTLE UNITED

Ins: Danny Guthrie (Liverpool, undisclosed), Jonas Gutierrez (Real Mallorca, undisclosed).

Outs: Emre (Fenerbahce, undisclosed), David Rozehnal (Lazio, £2.9m), Peter Ramage (QPR, free).

PORTSMOUTH

Ins: Peter Crouch (Liverpool, £11m), Ben Sahar (Chelsea, loan), Glen Little (Reading, free), Omar Alieu Koroma (Banjul Hawks, undisclosed).

Outs: Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan, £12.7m), Omar Alieu Koroma (Norwich, loan).

STOKE CITY

Ins: Seyi George Olofinjana (Wolves, £3m), Dave Kitson (Reading, £5.5m).

Outs: Marlon Broomes (Blackpool, free).

SUNDERLAND

Ins: Pascal Chimbonda (Tottenham, undisclosed), David Meyler (Cork City, undisclosed), Nick Colgan (Ipswich, free), Teemu Tainio (Tottenham, undisclosed), El Hadji Diouf (Bolton, £2.5m), Steed Malbranque (Tottenham, undisclosed).

Outs: Andrew Cole (Nottingham Forest, free), Greg Halford (Sheffield United, loan), Ian Harte and Stephen Wright (both released), Ross Wallace (Preston, loan).

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Ins: John Bostock (Crystal Palace, £700,000), Heurelho Gomes (PSV Eindhoven, undisclosed), Luka Modric (£15.8m), Giovani dos Santos (Barcelona, £4.7m), David Bentley (Blackburn, £15m).

Outs: Pascal Chimbonda (Sunderland, undisclosed), Paul Robinson (Blackburn, £3.5m), Teemu Tainio (Sunderland, undisclosed), Joe Martin (Blackpool, undisclosed), Robbie Keane (Liverpool, £20.3m). Anthony Gardner (Hull City, loan), Steed Malbranque (Sunderland, undisclosed), Jake Livermore (Crewe, loan).

WEST BROM

Ins: Scott Carson (Liverpool, £3.25m), Marek Cech (FC Porto, £1.4m), Gianni Zuiverloon (Heerenveen, £3.2m), Luke Moore (Aston Villa, £3m).

Outs: Kevin Phillips (Birmingham, free), Curtis Davies (Aston Villa, undisclosed), Martin Albrechtsen (Derby County, free), Zoltan Gera (Fulham, free), Luke Daniels (Shrewsbury, loan).

WEST HAM UNITED

Ins: Valon Behrami (Lazio, £5m), Balint Bajner (Liberty Salonta, undisclosed), Jan Lastuvka (Shakhtar Donetsk, loan).

Outs: John Pantsil and Bobby Zamora (Fulham, £6.3m), Richard Wright (Ipswich, undisclosed).

WIGAN ATHLETIC

Ins: Amr Zaki (Zamalek, loan), Olivier Kapo (Birmingham, £3.5m), Daniel de Ridder (Birmingham, free), Lee Cattermole (Middlesbrough, £3.5m).

Outs: Andreas Granqvist (Groningen, £600,000), Julius Aghahowa (Kayserispor, undisclosed), Salomon Olembe (Kayserispor, free), Josip Skoko (Hajduk Split, free), David Cotterill (Sheffield United, undisclosed).

Luton Town start 2008/2009 with – 30pts

Luton Town will start the 2008-09 campaign with minus 30 points after losing an appeal against the FA’s decision to hand them a ten-point deduction for irregularities in dealing with agents.

The Football League gave the Hatters a further 20-point penalty last week after the League Two club were unable to agree a Company Voluntary Arrangement with its creditors.

Surely the Hatters will now struggle to maintain league status as they weigh up their options for the coming year.

Luton were hit with the 10 point deduction in June after the FA found the club guilty of paying agents via a third party, but not of paying bungs.

The club argued that the old owners were responsible and that the club should not now be punished for their mistakes, but at a hearing in London on Tuesday the FA rejected their appeal.

An FA statement said: “The FA Regulatory Commission’s responsibility was to decide the appropriate punishment for Luton’s admitted breaches of the FA’s own rules and regulations.

“The deduction of 10 points was a heavy sanction, as it was intended to be, but was not excessive as a reflection of the seriousness of the breaches and the need to deter such conduct within football clubs.”

Manchester United and Spurs – £25m for Berbatov

It looks like United will get Berbatov for approximately £25 million.

United have officially started negotiations with Spurs about the Bulgarian striker, although Spurs have apparantly said they will hold out for £28 million.

Ferguson has followed and made enquiries about Berbatov for the past 2 seasons and now appears to be the right time to make an official approach.

I think that Berbatov would be an amazing signing for United, the service he would receive from that team would surely see him hit the 30 goal mark and I see him as the key to deciding whether Ronaldo can go or not.

If they sign Berbatov expect to see Nani start making more appearances as they test the set up for Ronaldo’s departure, and if I am to be totally honest, with Dimitar on the books and Nani maturing into a top player in his own right, I think United can more than survive without Ronaldo.

I think they will have it more their own way this year than they did last year. They got off to a slow start last year, this year I expect to see them come flying out of the blocks and with Chelsea and Arsenal going through quite big changes at the moment I really can’t see Manchester United having much trouble defending their crown as Premier League champions.

And as an Everton supporter that’s not an easy thing to say!!

What do you think about the proposed signing of Berbatov?
Please leave a comment below.

Management – How important is a number 2?

Fergie has announced that there is no rush to find a replacement number 2 at Man Utd, following the departure of Carlos Queiroz.

Queiroz has left to take on the Portugal job, a job I wish him well in. His last appointment at Real Madrid was always a step too far, too soon in my opinion but I do feel he is capable of doing a good job for the Portuguese.

I must say though that I’m not convinced being a good number two automatically means you can go on to be the top man at a club.

We’ve seen this with Queiroz’s first attempt and with other people like Brian Kidd and Steve McClaren.
People who all make superb number two’s, because they are good at relaying information, taking instruction and knowledgable of their opponents. Unfortunately the minute they have not got a good football brain like Fergie’s around to tell them who to sign, when to make a sub or change it around when they go a goal or two behind they stall in the blocks and are just left with an angry mob of fans shouting abuse at them.

I’m not convinced that a number two can automatically go on to be a number one man but I am convinced it’s good for a number one to have a sidekick to help the day to day running of things.

I must say that the fact Fergie is saying he is no rush to take on a replacement to Queiroz, makes me think he may be looking at this as his last season. Leaving the decks clear for a new man to come in next year with his own staff.

Time will tell, one thing for sure though, whether he has help or not Fergie will again be pulling out all the stops to ensure United are the team to beat this year.

Who will be the first managerial casualty of the season?

Well of course the gaffers at all the upcoming clubs will be amongst the favourites to get the boot first but I think there might be a couple of big surprises early on.

If Liverpool can’t get of to a good start, Benitez may well find it tough especially if Peter Crouch can be a hit at Portsmouth. I know people might thinking Im having a go because I’m an Everton supporter, but I truly believe Rafa has played all his trump cards and is out of ideas.

The favourite for me though has to be Southgate. I really can’t see Middlesborough doing anything, they where awful to watch last season and I can’t believe Gareth can do much to turn that around.

Who do you  think will go first? comment below

Redknapp going for top 4 with Peter Crouch at Portsmouth?

I’m a massive fan of Harry Redknapp. I don’t really care about any gossip that follows him regarding deals etc.

I like him as a person, he always seems to give an honest and straight answer when talking about his football, whether it be his teams he is talking about or others. More importantly though I like him as a football manager and for me that is what he is, a manager not just a coach.

There’s two types of gaffer. There’s the all round manager such as Redknapp, Fergie, Wenger and the newer bread such as Mark Hughes and David Moyes. Then there is the more modern coach, who knows all the the drills for the training pitch, is tactically very aware of what goes on but perhaps can’t hold or comand the full respect of their players. Into this category I’d probably put the likes of Scholari, Paul Ince, Steve Copell and Steve McClaren.

I have to admit I prefer the Manager approach. I think the old fashioned “boss” approach has better results and always will in the Premier League.

Harry has continued to make progress as Portsmouth boss and in the signing of Peter Crouch I think he will take Portsmouth up another position or two. I would love to see Crouchys goals take Portsmouth above Liverpool in the coming season. For this could really come back to haunt Benitez.

I just wish Everton had made an offer but I have said that year in year out about Moyes and Everton, and Moyes always pleasantly surprises me just as I am getting frustrated.