We all know about Porto’s upset of Manchester United on to the way to their 2004 Champions League title but since that has already been linked here figured I’d go old school and find a clip of Porto’s Champions League triumph against heavily favoured Bayern Munich.
Tottenham are lining up a bid for Wigan striker Amr Zaki, who missed the defeat by Everton at the weekend after failing to return from international duty with Egypt. (Daily Mirror)
Talk about the bloom being off the rose. After surprising a few teams earlier this season central defenders have managed to neutralize Zaki for a couple of months now.
Spurs are set to offload striker Darren Bent in a summer shake-up. (Daily Mirror)
For a striker most claim have under achieved, 15 goals this year isn’t a bad return. While teams won’t be lining up with the 17 million Tottenham paid but several teams should poke around trying to sign Bent.
Portsmouth midfielder Nico Kranjcar is being lined up for a £10m move to Greek side Panathinaikos. (The Sun)
Greek is a beautiful country just not sure Kranjcar would find it a step up moving to there from playing in the EPL.
Chelsea players are campaigning for the return of former manager Jose Mourinho, who is coach of Inter Milan, if interim Blues boss Guus Hiddink leaves Stamford Bridge in the summer. (Daily Express)
Makes a great headline but everyone knows it isn’t happening. It still annoys me after Chelsea 2007 FA Cup win where they did the minor double winning the Carling and FA Cup how Peter Kenyon ripped the season saying it wasn’t good enough. Since then nothing, serves them right. I realize some of this is Mourinho fault due to his prickish personality but will always wonder what Chelsea could of done if he had been given the backing Ferguson, Wenger and even Benitez have.
But Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has identified AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti as the next boss of the Blues if he cannot convince Hiddink to stay. (Daily Mail)
Six months as Chelsea manager and Chelsea fans will quickly realize that Carlo Ancelotti is really Italian for Luiz Felipe Scolari. It’s hard to except a manager coming in from another style of football and have him lead Chelsea back to the top in England.
Newcastle will pay former executive director of football Dennis Wise a £1.5m pay-off to leave the club. (Daily Mail)
Dennis Wise was the coach of League One club Millwall before Newcastle promoted him as director of football last year. That is like the Toronto Maple Leafs hiring a former head coach in the ECHL to become their new General Manager. Shocking it didn’t work out.
It has been revealed that Manchester United’s teenage sensation Federico Macheda earns ‘only’ £35,000 a year. (The Sun)
Well it is “only” when you consider by Cristiano Ronaldo earns that much by Tuesday of every week.
First thought that should come to people’s minds is Owen will never do that to Liverpool. Really? Why the hell not? It was Liverpool after all that get rid of Owen when he wasn’t Rafael Benítez cup of time. Once an idol to every Liverpool fan they have since moved on to Fernando Torres. Everton after all was Owen’s childhood team and if it wasn’t for their slow start this year Everton would of been making some noise with the rest of the top four. Everton would have to pay 15 million pounds to keep Jo if Manchester City were even willingly to sell him. Michael Owen on a free transfer wouldn’t make a bad plan B.
- Not exactly the best way you’d want to go into a match with Barcelona as Bayern Munich lost 5-1 to Wolfsburg who are now in a tie for top spot with Hamburg.
- Wouldn’t surprise me if Jose Mourinho sends Chievo striker Sergio Pellissier a thank you note as his hat trick split the points with Juventus. Nine points down pretty much wraps up the title for Inter.
- Inter were lucky with Udinese yet someone managed to escape with a 1-0 win thanks to a Mauricio Isla own goal.
- There are few sure things in life but Francesco Totti from the penalty spot just may be one of them. His two goals from the spot against Bologna earned Roma the 3 points this weekend.
- After a couple of months not being paid, Valencia sure looked happy now that the money is rolling in judging from their 4-1 win against Getafe.
- Two thrilling endings highlight an eventful week in the EPL.
- I wonder if Federico Macheda knows just how different his life is going to be now? It’s doubtful Macheda will have to pay for a meals within the city of Manchester for the next couple of months atleast.
- My first reaction when Macheda come on was, this is how far Nani has fallen getting subbed off for Macheda. My last reaction is boy that was a wonderful strike to earn United a precious three points. In the immortal words of CBS/ESPN NCAA broadcaster Bill Raftery….ONIONS!!!!
- Should of been happy seeing Ronaldo score two goals but nope I wasn’t. My mind kept thinking where the **** is this goal output for Portugal.
- If Liverpool can find a way to win either the Champions League or the EPL they can thank Yossi Benayoun for it. Provided Liverpool can win either title, Benayoun late game winner against Fulham to go along with his clutch goal against Real Madrid in the Champions League must make him a cult hero.
- What a wide range of emotions for both Liverpool and Manchester United supporters. It looked like Liverpool were going to drop points to Fulham despite hitting the bar countless times only to score in injury time to take over top spot in the EPL. Then Manchester United go down 2-1 to Aston Villa and it appeared the title was slipping from their hands only for Ronaldo to tie it up and Macheda to return the dagger to Liverpool by scoring the winner.
- Cristiano Ronaldo is now tied for top spot in goals this season in England with Nicolas Anelka who has gone cold since the departure of Scolari.
- Returning to the topic of hero’s, it’s not like Alan Shearer was playing for Newcastle. It was always going to be a tough ask for Newcastle to get anything from that game but it is scary how flat Newcastle was the entire game. Next weeks game against Stoke will be massive if Newcastle are to close the gap on 17th place Blackburn and Sunderland.
- West Brom needed to get a win against Stoke City if they had any chance of staying up this win. Another game, another terrible defensive performance will see West Brom go down and Stoke 6 points clear of 18th place Newcastle.
- While he won’t win coach of the year Tony Pulis deserves some votes as he has gotten the most out of this Stoke team all season long.
- Pulis also looks a lot like 2007 World Series of Poker winner Jamie Gold but I won’t hold that against him.
Above is Tony Pulis
Above is a prick.
- Typically Tottenham, coming off the heels of their best overall performance against Chelsea they fall apart at the end to lose to Blackburn. For Tottenham to make a run at the top four next year they will need to put teams like Blackburn away. Before Palacios’s sending off Blackburn where there for the taking. While Palacios red card may of been harsh, so was the hand ball penalty given against Gaël Givet.
- If Manchester City didn’t pay Robinho 30 million pounds he wouldn’t be starting week after week. His performances lately for City have been dreadful.
- Another game where there was only going to be one result. With Cesc Fàbregas, Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott all back from injury, Manchester City seemed powerless to stop Arsenal from having their way with them.
- Arsenal fans must be thinking what could of been if this team could of stayed healthy and play at this level from the beginning of the season?
- I’d say to Aston Villa fans enjoy the Europa league but considering the way Martin O’Neill raised the white flag against CSKA Moscow in the UEFA Cup this year, by playing his reserve team it appears that won’t be the case.
- Another laughable performance by Middlesbrough who are doing their best to prepare for life in the Championship next year. I’m of two minds when it comes to Middlesbrough. Part of me won’t be too sad seeing them go down as often their stadium is half empty but it would be cruel for chairman Steve Gibson.
Under his reign he has placed trust in current coach Gareth Southgate, allowed him to splash the cash when need be in the likes of Afonso Alves and also gave Sothgate time to develop promising home grown talent like Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson, David Wheater who in turn haven’t lived up to their promise this entire season.
- While Luís Boa Morte hasn’t exactly won over the hearts and minds of West Ham fans, these past two games have shown them why he was a fan favorite during his time at Fulham.
- Nail biting time if you are a Sunderland fan as they are now only 3 points away from the drop zone and kinda look like Reading last year who ran out of gas as the regulation battle heated up.
- Sums up Manchester City’s season when they best player is currently on loan at Everton. Jo must be dreading leaving Everton for Manchester City at the end of this season.
Gerrard extends Liverpool deal until 2013
Liverpool’s Premier League title push was given a boost on Friday with the news that club captain Steven Gerrard has agreed a two-year extension to his contract.
The 28-year-old’s current deal was due to expire in 2011 but has committed to the club until 2013, with reports suggesting that his weekly wage will increase from £110,000-a-week to £150,000.
When Frank Lampard got his £150,000 deal from Chelsea you knew Gerrard shouldn’t of got a penny less in his new deal. Good move for both club and player locking up the heart of this Liverpool team through the prime years of his career.
Enjoy the games this weekend.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has admitted he wants to sign Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, with the fee for the 21-year-old reported to be £45m. (Various)
Regardless of the price being tempting, Arsenal simply can not sell Cesc Fabregas. Arsenal fans have a right to think and demand that their club be considered among the European elite. Selling Fabregas would send a clear signal that Arsenal is nothing more than a feeder club for other teams.
Tottenham will attempt to sign Manchester City’s Martin Petrov as the Bulgarian left winger has dropped down the pecking order at Eastlands. (The Sun)
Petrov has only been dropped down from the pecking order cause he has been injured. Once Petrov returns to full fitness Manchester City would be wise to featuring him in the starting 11.
Spurs manager Harry Redknapp is also keeping an eye on 29-year-old Paraguay defender Paulo Cesar da Silva, who will be available on a free transfer in the summer. (Daily Mirror)
With Paraguay on top in World Cup qualifying it’s not surprising clubs are taking to take notice of anyone on that first team.
Gelson Fernandes has said he needs to quit Man City, but admitted it will be difficult to leave “the richest club in the world.” (The Sun)
A player at his age simply needs to play. With the money City spent on Nigel de Jong it will take de Jong falling flat on his face before Fernandes gets an extended run with the first team.
Arsene Wenger says he will not leave Arsenal before his contract expires in 2011. (Various)
When I think Arsenal I think Wenger. Would be weird if one day Wenger and Arsenal go their separate ways.
Sven-Goran Eriksson is eyeing a return to Premier League management after the Swede was sacked as manager of Mexico. (The Sun)
What half decent EPL job would be available to Sven-Goran Eriksson? Chelsea is not going to turn to him this summer. Newcastle and Sunderland are the only ones I could think of that offer some upside.
Man City manager Mark Hughes has hinted that he could leave star forward Robinho on the bench for this weekend’s trip to Arsenal because he is struggling to cope with the physical demands of the Premier League. (Various)
Robinho is struggling to cope with the fact he is a mental midget between the ears.
Sven-Goran Eriksson Sacked As Mexico Coach
The Swede has been sacked after just ten months in the job…
The Mexican Football Federation have confirmed that Sven-Goran Eriksson has been sacked as Mexico coach after a string of bad results, culminating in defeat to Honduras yesterday.
Sven-Goran Eriksson was always a weird match for Mexico. I could see why he’d be excited about a new challenge but it wasn’t perfect timing trying to adapt to a new style of play less than a year prior to World Cup qualifying. On the bright side now I’m looking forward to see how Special One TV will parody this come the weekend.
Inter Boss Jose Mourinho Snipes At Milan Coach Carlo Ancelotti & Roberto Mancini
The ‘Special One’ has launched yet another attack on the Rossoneri coach and has explained why he is different from ‘Mancio’…
Leave it to Mourinho to make me smile after wishing I could crawl under a rock and forget about football these last couple of days. A couple of great comebacks are quoted below.
“Many coaches have won it more than once but there is only one club that was leading 3-0 in the final and managed to lose it,” Mourinho smiled, referring to the 2005 Champions League final, which saw Liverpool fight back from 3-0 down against Milan to triumph on penalties.
“After going out to Liverpool in the Champions League he announced he would quit,” explained the Portuguese. “On the other hand, I demanded a meeting after [the] Manchester [United loss] to understand what we needed to [do to] win. There is a small difference in there…”
If Mourinho had Inter Milan in a distant 3rd calls for his head would be non stop yet Carlo Ancelotti is rumored to be the next coach of Real Madrid or Chelsea. Figure that one out.